Prevalence of anemia in heart failure and its effects on prognosis

Abstract

Anemia is common in heart failure patients but its prevalence varies widely according to various sources. There is no agreement regarding the definition of anemia to be used and several risk factors have been found to be associated with higher prevalence of anemia in heart failure patients. The prevalence of anemia depends on its definition and the clinical characteristics of the patients included in the studies. Anemia is associated with adverse prognosis in the general population, in patients with end-stage renal disease, chronic diseases, coronary artery disease and also in patients with heart failure; however, despite all the information available, the issue of whether anemia is an independent predictor of mortality and the nature of the risk between anemia and mortality in heart failure patients are not yet fully understood.

Keywords::

• anemia
• epidemiology
• heart failure
• hemoglobin
• mortality prevalence

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.