Cardiology Letters 2013, 22(5):405-407

Anaemia and heart failure - how to treat this patient?

Murín J, Papinčák J, Pernický M, Filková M, Kiňová S

I. interná klinika LFUK a UNB Staré Mesto, Bratislava, Slovenská republika

Anaemia is present in 25% - 40% of patients with systolic heart failure. It increases by two times mortality, morbidity and hospitalization rates of these patients. Its ethiology is multifactorial. In the its treatment we proceed with heart failure treatment, we deal with deficiencies of vitamin B12, folate and iron if they are present, and we try to stop haemorrhages if present. Some small clinical studies found the erythropoietin (EPO) treatment as useful in patients with chronic heart failure. Red-HF clinical study was started to solve this problem of anaemia in heart failure treatment. Darbepoietin (EPO) was given to anaemic patients with chronic heart failure in the treatment arm versus placebo arm treatment. All patients had standard treatment for heart failure. EPO improved anaemia but had no influence on the presence of cardiovascular events. There was a small non-significant increase of strokes in the EPO treatment arm. Anaemia seems to be a marker of severe progressive heart failure. EPO treatment is not indicated here.

Keywords: chronic heart failure; anaemia; erythropoietin; cardivascular events; stroke

Published: May 1, 2013  Show citation