Sarah Fitzsimons1, Katrina K Poppe2, Yeunhyang Choi3, Gerry Devlin4, Mayanna Lund5, Carolyn S P Lam6, Richard Troughton7, A Mark Richards7, Robert N Doughty8. 1. Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Greenlane Cardiovascular Service, Auckland District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: SFitzsimons@adhb.govt.nz. 2. Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Section of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Population Health, FMHS, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. 3. Section of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Population Health, FMHS, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. 4. Hauroa Tairāwhiti, Gisborne, New Zealand. 5. Middlemore Hospital, Counties Manukau District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand. 6. National Heart Centre Singapore & Duke-National University of Singapore, Singapore. 7. Christchurch Heart Institute, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand. 8. Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Greenlane Cardiovascular Service, Auckland District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency (ID) is highly prevalent in patients with heart failure (HF) but its impact on prognosis in HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains unclear. We assessed whether ID defined by soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) criteria is independently associated with all-cause mortality in patients with HFpEF, and evaluated its comparative prognostic performance to ID definitions in common clinical use. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were analyzed from 788 patients (36% HFpEF) in a prospective multicenter HF cohort study. Baseline plasma samples were analyzed with respect to 4 definitions of ID: sTfR of ≥1.59 mg/L (IDsTfR1), sTfR of ≥1.76 mg/L (IDsTfR2), ferritin of <100 µg/L, or ferritin of 100-300 µg/L + transferrin saturation of <20% (IDFerritin), and transferrin saturation of <20% (IDTsat). In multivariable Cox models IDsTfR2 (hazard ratio [HR] 1.84, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23-2.75) and IDTsat (HR, 1.69, 95% CI 1.10-2.59) were both independently associated with all-cause mortality in patients with HFpEF, whereas IDsTfR1 (HR 1.41, 95% CI 0.92-2.16) and IDFerritin (HR 1.19, 95% CI 0.77-1.85) were not. On inclusion of patients with HF with reduced EF, IDsTfR1 (HR 1.45, 95% CI 1.13-1.86) gained significance, but IDFerritin (HR 1.21, 95% CI 0.95-1.54) did not. For each pair of definitions intra-patient concordance was approximately 65%. CONCLUSION: ID defined by sTfR criteria is independently associated with all-cause mortality in patients with HFpEF. Poor concordance between ID definitions suggests that iron biomarkers do not reflect the same pathological process in the complex relationship between iron and HF. Therefore, which definition should guide iron replacement needs further evaluation.
BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency (ID) is highly prevalent in patients with heart failure (HF) but its impact on prognosis in HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains unclear. We assessed whether ID defined by soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) criteria is independently associated with all-cause mortality in patients with HFpEF, and evaluated its comparative prognostic performance to ID definitions in common clinical use. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were analyzed from 788 patients (36% HFpEF) in a prospective multicenter HF cohort study. Baseline plasma samples were analyzed with respect to 4 definitions of ID: sTfR of ≥1.59 mg/L (IDsTfR1), sTfR of ≥1.76 mg/L (IDsTfR2), ferritin of <100 µg/L, or ferritin of 100-300 µg/L + transferrin saturation of <20% (IDFerritin), and transferrin saturation of <20% (IDTsat). In multivariable Cox models IDsTfR2 (hazard ratio [HR] 1.84, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23-2.75) and IDTsat (HR, 1.69, 95% CI 1.10-2.59) were both independently associated with all-cause mortality in patients with HFpEF, whereas IDsTfR1 (HR 1.41, 95% CI 0.92-2.16) and IDFerritin (HR 1.19, 95% CI 0.77-1.85) were not. On inclusion of patients with HF with reduced EF, IDsTfR1 (HR 1.45, 95% CI 1.13-1.86) gained significance, but IDFerritin (HR 1.21, 95% CI 0.95-1.54) did not. For each pair of definitions intra-patient concordance was approximately 65%. CONCLUSION: ID defined by sTfR criteria is independently associated with all-cause mortality in patients with HFpEF. Poor concordance between ID definitions suggests that iron biomarkers do not reflect the same pathological process in the complex relationship between iron and HF. Therefore, which definition should guide iron replacement needs further evaluation.
Authors: Kieran F Docherty; Paul Welsh; Subodh Verma; Rudolf A De Boer; Eileen O'Meara; Olof Bengtsson; Lars Køber; Mikhail N Kosiborod; Ann Hammarstedt; Anna Maria Langkilde; Daniel Lindholm; Dustin J Little; Mikaela Sjöstrand; Felipe A Martinez; Piotr Ponikowski; Marc S Sabatine; David A Morrow; Morten Schou; Scott D Solomon; Naveed Sattar; Pardeep S Jhund; John J V McMurray Journal: Circulation Date: 2022-08-16 Impact factor: 39.918