Abstract. The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to examine the associations among chronic kidney disease, anemia, and risk of death among patients with heart failure. Retrospective cohort study. Patients with a principal diagnosis of heart failure (ICD9 codes 402. 01, 402.11, 402.91, 404.01, 404.11, 404.91, and 428.xx) were included. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) was defined as a serum creatinine Ͼ1.4 mg/dl for women and Ͼ1.5 mg/dl for men. There were 665 eligible patients in the sample with a mean (SD) age of 75.7 (10.9) yr; 60% were women, 71% were white, and 38% had CKD. On admission, a hematocrit Ն40% was found for 30.3% of the patients; 22.9% had a hematocrit between 36% and 40%, 33.2% between 30% and 35%, and 13.6% had a hematocrit of Ͻ30%. The 1-yr death rates among individuals with and without CKD were 44.9% and 31.4%, respectively (relative risk [RR], 1.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17 to 1.75). The mortality at 1 yr was 31.2% for individuals with a hematocrit Ն40%; 33.8% (RR, 1.08; 95% CI. 0.79 to 1.47) for hematocrit 36 to 39%; 36.7% (RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.89 to 1.54) for hematocrit between 30 and 35%; and 50.0% (RR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.19 to 2.16) for those with a hematocrit Ͻ30% ( 2 for trend was 7.37; P ϭ 0.007). Both hematocrit and serum creatinine were independently associated with increased risk of death during follow-up after controlling for other patient risk factors. In conclusion, CKD and anemia are frequent among older patients with heart failure and are independent predictors of subsequent risk of death.Anemia is a frequent complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is primarily due to failure of erythropoietin production to respond to decreased hemoglobin concentration (1,2). The onset of anemia during the progression of CKD is variable, but it is common after serum creatinine reaches 1.5 mg/dl and increases in prevalence with decreasing creatinine clearance (3,4). At the onset of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the mean hematocrit is Ͻ30%, despite the use of erythropoietin replacement in over a quarter of new patients (5). A recent report by al- Ahmad et al. (6) found that CKD and anemia are independent risk factors for mortality among patients with heart failure due to left ventricular dysfunction (i.e., an ejection fraction Յ35%) enrolled in the Studies of LV Dysfunction (SOLVD) clinical trial. Increased risk of death was noted among patients with a hematocrit between 35 and 39% as well as those with more severe degrees of anemia. This report is of particular interest given that the prevalence of heart failure was 33% among new ESRD patients (5).Although CKD has been a known risk factor for mortality among patients with heart failure, the findings of al-Ahmad et al. were unexpected, as a contribution of anemia to the risk of death had not been previously reported (7-16). It is possible that the association between anemia and mortality observed in this clinical trial was a consequence of selection of patients for SOLVD, and similar results might not pertain in a more...

Poverty is associated with increased risk of ESRD, but its contribution to observed racial differences in disease incidence is not well-defined. To explore the contribution of neighborhood poverty to racial disparity in ESRD incidence, we analyzed a combination of US Census and ESRD Network 6 data comprising 34,767 patients that initiated dialysis in Georgia, North Carolina, or South Carolina between January 1998 and December 2002. Census tracts were used as the geographic units of analysis, and the proportion of the census tract population living below the poverty level was our measure of neighborhood poverty. Incident ESRD rates were modeled using two-level Poisson regression, where race, age and gender were individual covariates (level 1), and census tract poverty was a neighborhood covariate (level 2). Neighborhood poverty was strongly associated with higher ESRD incidence for both blacks and whites. Increasing poverty was associated with a greater disparity in ESRD rates between blacks and whites, with the former at greater risk. This raises the possibility that blacks may suffer more from lower socioeconomic conditions than whites. The disparity persisted across all poverty levels. The reasons for increasingly higher ESRD incidence among US blacks as neighborhood poverty increases remain to be explained.

Summary Intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) is the most serious type of bleeding for patients with haemophilia. Prior published reports regarding ICH predate the widespread provision of prophylaxis. Our study objectives were to determine risk factors for ICH and whether prophylaxis reduces ICH occurrence. We performed a nested case‐control study of persons with haemophilia, ≥2 years of age enrolled in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Universal Data Collection project. Of 10 262 patients 199 (1·9%) experienced an ICH for an incidence rate of 390/105 patient years. Head trauma was reported in 44% (88/199). ICH mortality was 19·6% (39/199). Significant risk factors for ICH included a high titre inhibitor [odds ratio (OR) = 4·01, 95% confidence interval (2·40–6·71)], prior ICH [OR = 3·62 (2·66–4·92)] and severe haemophilia [OR = 3·25 (2·01–5·25)]. Prophylaxis was associated with a significant risk reduction for ICH occurrence in patients with severe haemophilia who were negative for human immunodeficiency virus or an inhibitor, with an OR of 0·52 (0·34–0·81) and 0·50 (0·32–0·77) respectively. The most significant risk factors for ICH included the presence of an inhibitor, prior ICH, severity of haemophilia and reported head trauma. This is the first study to demonstrate that prescribed prophylaxis conferred a protective effect against ICH in patients with uncomplicated severe disease.

Lack of detailed natural history and outcomes data for neonates and toddlers with haemophilia hampers the provision of optimal management of the disorder. We report an analysis of prospective data collected from 580 neonates and toddlers aged 0-2 years with haemophilia enrolled in the Universal Data Collection (UDC) surveillance project of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This study focuses on a cohort of babies with haemophilia whose diagnosis was established before the age of two. The mode of delivery, type and severity of haemophilia, onset and timing of haemorrhages, site(s) of bleeding, provision of prophylaxis with coagulation factor replacement therapy, and the role played by the federally funded Haemophilia Treatment Centers (HTC) in the management of these infants with haemophilia were evaluated. Seventy-five per cent of haemophilic infants were diagnosed early, in the first month of life, especially those with a family history or whose mothers were known carriers; infants of maternal carriers were more likely to be delivered by C-section. Involvement of an HTC prior to delivery resulted in avoidance of the use of assisted deliveries with vacuum and forceps. Bleeding from the circumcision site was the most common haemorrhagic complication, followed by intra- and extra-cranial haemorrhages and bleeding from heel stick blood sampling. Eight per cent of the infants were administered factor concentrate within 24 h of birth; more than half were treated to prevent bleeding. This study highlights the significant rate and the sites of initial bleeding unique to very young children with haemophilia and underscores the need for research to identify optimal evidence-based recommendations for their management.