Anemia and its association with clinical outcome in heart failure patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy

Although a substantial proportion of patients with heart failure (HF) have anemia, there is a paucity of data evaluating the impact of anemia on clinical outcome in CRT patients. Our goal was to examine the ability of baseline hemoglobin (Hb) level and change in Hb level over time to predict clinical 2-year outcome and echocardiographic response to CRT. Three hundred consecutive CRT patients (median 72 years [interquartile range (IQR) 16 years], 19 % female) with baseline and follow-up hematological profiles available were examined. Baseline anemia was defined as Hb