Pattern of anaemia and its correlates in Nigerians with heart failure

Abstract

Background: Heart failure often coexists with many comorbidities, including anaemia. However, the pattern of anaemia in heart  failure and its clinical and echocardiographic associations have not been adequately studied among Nigerians.

Objective: To describe the pattern of anaemia, its clinical characteristics, and its echocardiographic associations among heart failure subjects in Nigeria

Methods: One hundred and forty subjects with heart failure were recruited from the cardiology clinics of two teaching hospitals in southwest Nigeria: Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and Bowen University Teaching Hospitals, Ogbomoso. Complete blood analyses, among other tests, were done. Statistical analysis was done with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 20.0. P <0.05 was taken as statistically significant.

Result: Anaemia, as defined by the World Health Organisation, occurred in 106 (75.7%) of the heart failure patients. The patterns of anaemia among participants include combined anaemia of chronic diseases (ACD) with iron deficiency in 64 (45.7%) patients, and ACD alone in 40 (28.6%). Anaemia was more significantly associated with previous diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, presence of pulmonary hypertension, and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures, ejection fraction, and
fractional shortening were significantly lower among heart failure subjects with anaemia, while serum creatinine, left atrial dimension, left ventricular end diastolic dimension, and left ventricular mass index were significantly higher among heart failure subjects with anaemia compared to those without anaemia.

Conclusion: Anaemia occurs very frequently among heart failure patients in southwest Nigeria. It is associated with many poor  prognostic factors, including diabetes mellitus, pulmonary hypertension, and kidney failure.

Keywords: Anaemia, Heart failure, Left ventricular geometry, Nigeria, Echocardiography.