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Background and objectives The safety of intravenous iron dosing in dialysis is uncertain. Higher-dose intravenous iron may be associated with a higher risk of infections, cardiovascular events, hospitalizations, and mortality. This systematic review aimed to determine the safety of higher-dose versus lower-dose intravenous iron, oral iron, or no iron supplementation in adult patients treated with dialysis. Design, setting, participants, & measurements We searched Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane library, and CINAHL from inception to January 6, 2017 for randomized, controlled trials and observational studies comparing higher-dose intravenous iron with lower-dose intravenous iron, oral iron, or no iron in patients treated with dialysis that had all-cause mortality, infection, cardiovascular events, or hospitalizations as outcomes. Results Of the 2231 eligible studies, seven randomized, controlled trials and 15 observational studies met inclusion criteria. The randomized, controlled trials showed no association between higher-dose intravenous iron (>400 mg/mo for most studies) and mortality (six studies; n =970; pooled relative risk, 0.93; 95% confidence interval, 0.47 to 1.84; follow-up ranging from 35 days to 26 months) or infection (four studies; n =743; relative risk, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.74 to 1.41). The observational studies showed no association between higher-dose intravenous iron (>200 mg/mo for most studies) and mortality (eight studies; n =241,408; hazard ratio, 1.09; 95% confidence interval, 0.98 to 1.21; follow-up ranging from 3 to 24 months), infection (eight studies; n =135,532; pooled hazard ratio, 1.13; 95% confidence interval, 0.99 to 1.28), cardiovascular events (seven studies; n =135,675; hazard ratio, 1.18; 95% confidence interval, 0.90 to 1.56), or hospitalizations (five studies; n =134,324; hazard ratio, 1.08; 95% confidence interval, 0.97 to 1.19). Conclusions Higher-dose intravenous iron does not seem to be associated with higher risk of mortality, infection, cardiovascular events, or hospitalizations in adult patients on dialysis. Strength of this finding is limited by small numbers of participants and events in the randomized, controlled trials and statistical heterogeneity in observational studies.

Background Unplanned hospital admissions in high-risk patients are common and costly in an increasingly frail chronic disease population. Virtual Wards (VW) are an emerging concept to improve outcomes in these patients. Purpose To evaluate the effect of post-discharge VWs, as an alternative to usual community based care, on hospital readmissions and mortality among heart failure and non-heart failure populations. Data sources Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, SCOPUS and CINAHL, from inception through to Jan 31, 2017; unpublished data, prior systematic reviews; reference lists. Study selection Randomized trials of post-discharge VW versus community based, usual care that reported all-cause hospital readmission and mortality outcomes. Data extraction Data were reviewed for inclusion and independently extracted by two reviewers. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. Data synthesis In patients with heart failure, a post-discharge VW reduced risk of mortality (six trials, n = 1634; RR 0.59, 95% CI = 0.44–0.78). Heart failure related readmissions were reduced (RR 0.61, 95% CI = 0.49–0.76), although all-cause readmission was not. In contrast, a post-discharge VW did not reduce death or hospital readmissions for patients with undifferentiated high-risk chronic diseases (four trials, n = .3186). Limitations Heterogeneity with respect to intervention and comparator, lacking consistent descriptions and utilization of standardized nomenclature for VW. Some trials had methodologic shortcomings and relatively small study populations. Conclusions A post-discharge VW can provide added benefits to usual community based care to reduce all-cause mortality and heart failure-related hospital admissions among patients with heart failure. Further research is needed to evaluate the utility of VWs in other chronic disease settings.