Hashimoto K, Kimura T, Ikemura N, et al. - The results of this study illustrated that the presence of even mild anemia was correlated with elevated risks of heart failure hospitalization and poor quality of life (QoL) improvement.

• Researchers analyzed the clinical burdens of mild anemia on the QoL and clinical outcomes of 1,677 AF patients.

• Individuals were classified into a non-anemia (hemoglobin [Hb] ≥13 g/dl for men and Hb ≥12 g/dl for women) and a mild anemia group (10≤ Hb <13 g/dl for men and 10≤ Hb <12 g/dl for women).

• It was shown that 22.5% of patients (n = 378) had anemia at baseline; patients in the mild anemia group had higher CHA2DS2-VASc scores (3.7 vs 2.7; p <0.01) and brain natriuretic peptide levels (253.5 vs 159.6 pg/ml; p <0.01) and were more likely to develop chronic kidney disease (64.2 vs 42.9%; p <0.01) than those in the non-anemia group.

• Patients with mild anemia had a higher risk of heart failure hospitalization and major bleeding events than those without (12.2 vs 3.8%; p <0.01 and 5.6 vs 2.5%; p <0.01, respectively) during follow-up (mean 1.7 ± 0.4 years).

• It was shown that mild anemia was an independent risk factor for heart failure hospitalization (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.67, 95% confidence interval 1.06 to 2.62, p = 0.03) but not for major bleeding (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.44, 95% confidence interval 0.80 to 2.62, p = 0.23).

• Despite the lack of significant differences at baseline, QoL improvement was less likely in the mild anemia group during follow-up.