Anemia as a Cardiovascular Risk Factor in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure
Authors:   Poltava State Medical University, Internal Medicine No. 2 Department. 23, Shevchenko Str., Poltava 36000, Ukraine, Tsyganenko I. V. , Ovcharenko L. K. , Zaіats Yu. B. 
Published: July 2022

The purpose of the study was to investigate the clinical and prognostic significance of anemia, including iron deficiency, in patients with chronic heart failure. Materials and methods. A retrospective cohort study was conducted among 46 patients of the Poltava Regional Cardiovascular Center of the Poltava Regional Council, who in 2021 were on out-patient and in-patient treatment diagnosed with chronic heart failure of various functional classes. The information was collected by analyzing the data of laboratory examinations of patients during life, which were recorded in their medical records. Results and discussion. Cardiovascular disease is identified as the leading cause of death in people regardless of age and sex worldwide. About half of all hospitalizations each year is the result of cardiovascular disease, including acute myocardial infarction, chronic heart failure, cardiomyopathy, and life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. Increasing attention is being paid to finding the causes of cardiovascular risk, which also significantly affect the degree of manifestations and progression of certain pathogenetic changes in the human body. Recently, anemia has been increasingly singled out as one of these factors. It is proved that iron deficiency significantly reduces the quality of life, physical activity both in the presence of anemia and in its absence. Recent recommendations from the European Society of Cardiology for Heart Failure recommend that all patients with heart failure be screened for serum ferritin and transferrin, with or without anemia and iron deficiency. However, the question remains – cardiovascular risk factor. It was found that the degree of progression of anemia is directly related to the degree of progression of chronic heart failure. In more than half of the patients, anemia was a predictor of cardiovascular disease. In patients with primary kidney disease, anemia develops in almost all cases and contributes to postoperative complications. The degree of pathogenetic, clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic relationship between these pathological conditions demonstrates that anemia is a marker of subclinical chronic renal failure in patients with heart failure. Thus, anemia is not only a direct factor in cardiovascular risk but also a cause of unfavorable prognosis. Conclusion. Anemia can be identified as one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease and factors for its progression. There is a direct relationship between functional classification of heart failure and the severity of anemia. All patients with iron deficiency were diagnosed with III-IV functional classification of heart failure. Already at the detection of primary hematological changes that indicate the presence and development of anemia, a comprehensive examination of the patient should be conducted and an appropriate therapy, depending on the genesis of anemia, which will reduce cardiovascular risk in the future, should be initiated