Anaemia and renal function in heart failure due to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy

Anaemia and renal dysfunction are common in patients with heart failure (HF). Most studies involve western cohorts with ischaemic aetiology receiving treatment likely to impair renal function.

To investigate the frequency of anaemia and renal dysfunction and the relationship between the two within a cohort of 163 newly diagnosed Black African idiopathic cardiomyopathy patients prior to commencing HF treatments and compare those findings to those of western HF cohorts.

Single-centre retrospective analysis. Anaemia defined as haemoglobin concentration<13.0 g/dL for males (n=85) and <12 g/dL for females (n=78). Probable renal dysfunction defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate of <60 mL/min/1.73 m2, using serum creatinine concentrations.

The mean age was 48+/-11 years, 52% were male. Overall, 13.5% of patients were anaemic and 11.8% had evidence of renal dysfunction, while 1.2% had both. Renal dysfunction was significantly more common in older patients (mean age 58+/-13 vs. 47+/-10 years: p<0.001).

The frequency of anaemia and renal dysfunction in this cohort was lower than that reported in western HF cohorts. These data infer a more limited relationship between HF, anaemia and renal dysfunction in patients without atherothrombotic disease; hence extrapolation of HF data from the western world to other populations should be interpreted cautiously.