Anemia is an Independent Predictor of Long-Term Adverse Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure in Japan A Report From the Japanese Cardiac Registry of Heart Failure in Cardiology (JCARE-CARD)

Abstract

Background: Anemia is common in patients with heart failure (HF) and is associated with worse outcomes. However, the effects of anemia are unknown in an unselected group of HF patients encountered in routine clinical practice in Japan. The impact of anemia on long-term outcomes including mortality and rehospitalization among patients hospitalized with HF was thus assessed. Methods and Results: The Japanese Cardiac Registry of Heart Failure in Cardiology (JCARE-CARD) prospectively studied the characteristics and treatments in a broad sample of patients hospitalized with worsening HF and the outcomes were followed. Study cohorts (n=1,960) were classified into 4 groups by discharge hemoglobin quartiles: Conclusions: Anemia was quite common especially in patients with HF encountered in routine clinical practice in Japan, and lower hemoglobin was independently associated with long-term adverse outcomes in these patients. (Circ J 2009; 73: 1901-1908)