[Should anemia be completely corrected in patients with chronic renal failure?]

The optimal target hemoglobin (Hb) for the correction of renal anemia by recombinant human erythropoietin therapy is discussed controversially. Normalization of Hb that could lead to a further improvement of the patient's status is often rejected, because of possible effects as a result of an increase in blood viscosity. However, recent studies demonstrated that the higher the Hb level, the better the quality of life and the lower the incidence of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, as well as hospitalisation. These correlations tend to persist up to normal Hb levels.