Correcting iron deficiency protects heart failure patients from repeat hospital stay

Reuters Health - 16/11/2020 - For patients hospitalized with acute heart failure and concomitant iron deficiency, initiating iron supplementation before discharge reduces subsequent HF hospitalization by a quarter, the AFFIRM-AHF trial shows. "This is the first study demonstrating the benefits of iron supplementation initiated in stabilized patients hospitalized for acute heart failure, and only two doses were needed in the vast majority of patients," lead investigator Dr. Piotr Ponikowski of Wroclaw Medical University in Poland said in a statement. "Health care professionals should screen patients with heart failure for the presence of iron deficiency, and intravenous iron should be considered for those with iron deficiency and ejection fraction of 50% or lower," he added. The results of the study were presented November 13 during the American Heart Association 2020 virtual scientific sessions and simultaneously published in The Lancet. In acute heart...

Please login to read the full text of the article.

If you have no account yet, please register now.

Posted on 16 November, 202026 November, 2020