Anaemia increases the risk of death in patients with chronic heart failure. Researchers from America examined previous studies done to determine the effect of anaemia on death of heart failure patients. The previous studies examined included a total of 1,53,180 patients. The information on study design, patient characteristics, outcomes and potential confounders were extracted. It was found that 37 percent of chronic heart patients had anaemia, diagnosed with blood tests. The patients were followed for up to 5 years after anaemia was diagnosed. Forty-seven percent of patients with heart failure with anaemia died during the follow-up compared to 29 percent of their non-anaemic peers. The findings revealed that anaemic heart patients were 46 percent more likely to die than non-anaemic heart patients. The results of the above study indicate that anaemia, a deficiency of oxygen-carrying red blood cells, increases the risk of death in patients with chronic heart failure. Thus,, therapeutic strategies aimed to reduce anaemia in patients with heart failure need to be investigated.
Journal of the American College of Cardiology
September 2008