Iron replacement therapy in chronic heart failure

Martin Cowie (1, 2) , Rebecca Lucas (3)

1 Clinical Cardiology
2 Clinical Cardiology
3 Clinical Cardiology

No abstract: first 100 words of perspective: Anaemia is common in patients with chronic heart failure (HF), particularly if there is concomitant renal dysfunction. It is part of a cardio-renal-anaemia syndrome, in which each component impacts on the other in a vicious cycle. Prevalence varies according to the definition used but a recent meta-analysis reported anaemia in over one-third of patients with chronic HF (1). The majority of studies in this meta-analysis used the WHO definition of anaemia (haemoglobin <12g/dl in women and <13g/dl in men). Anaemia prevalence increases with age and with HF severity, but averaged 37% in the studies included in the meta-analysis (1). Anaemia in patients with HF is associated with worse symptoms and decreased exercise capacity (2). It has also been shown to be independently associated with increased risk of hospitalisation and mortality (3), both in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and those with preserved ejection fraction (1). Outcome studies have not yet established that anaemia is a cause of HF progression rather than simply a marker of disease severity. Nonetheless, evidence is accumulating that there is benefit from correction of anaemia.

Mots clés: Medicine

Martin Cowie, Rebecca Lucas. Iron replacement therapy in chronic heart failure. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 2011, 65 (6), pp.645. ⟨10.1111/j.1742-1241.2011.02636.x⟩. ⟨hal-00640467⟩