title: Are erythropoiesis-stimulating agents beneficial for anemia in chronic heart failure patients?
abstract: Anemia is a common comorbidity among patients with chronic health failure and appears to be associated with increased mortality and morbidity. However, it is unclear whether correcting it with erythropoiesis stimulating agents improves clinical outcomes. Searching in Epistemonikos database, which is maintained by screening 30 databases, we identified 11 systematic reviews including 17 trials overall addressing the question of this article. We combined the evidence using meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings following the GRADE approach. We concluded the use of erythropoiesis stimulating agents in patients with chronic heart failure and anemia does not decrease mortality, and it is not clear if they decrease the risk of hospitalization or if they improve functional status because the certainty of the evidence is very low. The risk of thromboembolic events probably increases.
authors.affiliation: Proyecto Epistemonikos, Santiago, Chile. Address: Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Diagonal Paraguay 476, Santiago Centro Chile.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Araneda
authors.affiliation: Proyecto Epistemonikos, Santiago, Chile; Programa de Salud Basada en Evidencia, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Departamento de Medicina Interna, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; GRADE working group; The Cochrane Collaboration.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rada
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications*; D006397:Hematinics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D006397:Hematinics