Anaemia is an independent predictor of death in patients  hospitalized for acute heart failure.
BACKGROUND
Acute heart failure is associated with a poor prognosis. It is important to identify patients at increased risk of adverse events. The presence of anaemia could help in this regard.


RESULTS
Admission charts of 627 patients (325 female) with acute heart failure were analysed; 182 patients (29%) fulfilled the World Health Organization criteria of anaemia [haemoglobin (Hb) < 13.0 in men, <12.0 g/dl in women], 87 (48%) of them were female. Anaemic patients were older than non-anaemics (p = 0.04), had lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure (both p < 0.05), had higher creatinine (p < 0.01), and stayed longer in hospital (p = 0.0005). Patients were followed-up for a mean of 61 months or until death. A total of 387 patients (61.7%) died during follow-up. Anaemia was an independent predictor of death in this cohort. Patients with moderate or severe anaemia (Hb < 12 in men or <11 g/dl in women) had a significantly increased 12-month mortality after adjusting for age, New York Heart Association class, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and creatinine (hazard ratio 1.5, 95% confidence interval 1.1-2.0, p = 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Anaemia is a frequent co-morbidity in patients with acute heart failure. Moderate to severe anaemia is an independent predictor of death in these patients.
von Haehling
Stephan
S
Applied Cachexia Research, Department of Cardiology, Charité Medical School, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany. stephan.von.haehling@web.de
Schefold
Joerg C
JC
Hodoscek
Lea Majc
LM
Doehner
Wolfram
W
Mannaa
Marwan
M
Anker
Stefan D
SD
Lainscak
Mitja
M
D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000740:Anemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate