Anaemia Profile in Patients with Congestive Heart Failure in a Tertiary Care Centre in Kerala

Anaemia and Renal failure seem to be major risk factors recognized in the pathophysiology and progression of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) with an adverse outcome. The cardio renal anaemia syndrome (CRAS) represents a pathological triangle in which the primary failing organ is the heart or the kidney and the dysfunction of one organ leads to dysfunction of the other (3)(4). The presence of anemia increases morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure. It seems that there is an impaired mechanism operating between congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and anemia, where each might cause or worsen the other. Anemia is independently associated with increased mortality and hospitalizations in patients with both Heart Failure with reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF) and HF with preserved ejection fraction. Therefore, correction of anemia would be a major part of this vicious circle in the reduction of the severity of the heart failure. This could be explained by the fact that a significant feature of congestive heart failure is impaired energy metabolism and therefore the failing heart is an energy-starved heart. Oxygen delivery through haemoglobin (Hb) is essential for energy production and improvement of Hb levels could also improve energy production in cardiomyocytes. (5) .This study is aiming to find the prevalence of anemia in heart failure in our set up.