Association Between Anemia and In-Hospital Outcomes in Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction at...

This study aimed to assess the association between hemoglobin levels and in-hospital outcomes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) at King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC).

This was a retrospective cohort study of 1,027 consecutive STEMI patients, from July 2022 to March 2023. The cohort was divided into two groups according to the presence of anemia on admission. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin levels of 12 g/dL in women and 13 g/dL in men: group 1 with anemia (255 (24.8%)) and group 2 without anemia (772 (75.2%)). Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the factors affecting in-hospital complications.

Two hundred fifty-five (24.8%) patients were anemic at admission. Anemia was higher in women than men (49.7% vs. 20.5%; p < 0.001). The anemic group was older (59.5 ± 12.97 vs. 53.3 ± 11.76 years; p < 0.001) and had a higher prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus (DM) (63.5% vs. 44.6% (p < 0.001) and 65.9% vs. 55.7% (p = 0.005), respectively). The anemic group had longer hospital stays (6.5 ± 7.4 vs. 4.77 ± 4.9 days; p < 0.001) and a higher in-hospital death rate (5.9% vs. 2.5%; p = 0.014). Using multivariate analysis, anemia was not a significant independent predictor for in-hospital complications.

Anemia is a common comorbidity in STEMI patients. It is associated with a 2.5-fold increase in in-hospital mortality and a significantly longer length of hospitalization.