[Heart failure and anemia].

Chronic heart failure has an age-dependent prevalence of 2% and is therefore one of the most frequent diseases in western societies. A reduced hemoglobin concentration according to the definition of the World Health Organization is a common comorbidity affecting more than half of all heart failure patients. Elderly patients, patients suffering from renal impairment and women are more likely to develop anemia but a definitive etiology of anemia is only identified in the minority of cases. Anemia is associated with a poor clinical status and a greater risk of hospitalization and is a predictive factor for increased mortality. The incidence of anemia appears to increase with a poorer functional class. Intravenous iron therapy improves the exercise capacity in patients with systolic heart failure and iron deficiency and is currently being recommended for patients with persistent symptoms despite optimal medical and device therapy. However, erythropoietin-stimulating agents as a treatment for anemia in chronic heart failure have failed to improve clinical outcome in a large randomized trial. In patients with heart failure but with maintained ejection fraction, anemia is also associated with a poor prognosis. Specific therapeutic recommendations for these patients are still not available.