Clinical impact of red blood cell transfusion on adverse clinical events in acute heart failure patients with anemia.

Abstract Background Anemia has been recognized an important comorbidity in patients with acute heart failure (AHF) and is associated with adverse clinical events. However, the clinical impact of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion in such patients is unclear. Method This study was a retrospective single-center registry including AHF patients admitted to Kyorin University Hospital between 2008 and 2014. Anemia was defined as a hemoglobin level  20 g/L were excluded. AHF readmission at 3 months and in-hospital and 2-year all-cause mortality were evaluated. Results Of 501 AHF patients, 38 were excluded owing to major bleeding; finally, 463 (age, 77 ± 11 years; males, 58%) were evaluated. RBC transfusion during hospitalization was performed in 112 patients (24%). Hemoglobin level on admission was 105 ± 16 g/L (transfusion, 89 ± 17 g/L; no transfusion, 110 ± 12 g/L; p  Conclusions RBC transfusion was not associated with AHF readmission or all-cause mortality.