The prevalence and severity of anemia and renal dysfunction in heart failure patients with a normal ejection fraction (HFNEF) is uncharacterized. Two hundred eighty-five consecutive patients admitted to a community hospital with heart failure were stratified by the presence or absence of anemia and a normal or reduced ejection fraction. Comparisons of clinical variables were performed. In this sample, 62% of subjects were anemic, with no difference between those with a normal and a reduced ejection fraction (63% vs. 61%). Anemic HFNEF subjects had a lower glomerular filtration rate (37 +/- 21 mL/min vs. 52 +/- 35 mL/min; p < 0.05) and more severe self-reported symptom scores than nonanemic HFNEF subjects. Multivariate analysis confirmed the association of renal dysfunction and anemia. The authors conclude that the degree and magnitude of anemia in elderly inpatients with heart failure does not differ by ejection fraction. Worse symptoms and more severe renal dysfunction were seen in HFNEF subjects with anemia than in HFNEF subjects without anemia.

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We present a case of a 19-year-old woman with myocarditis who had significantly elevated cardiac markers at presentation even before any myocardial damage ensued. The patient had complicated clinical course with ventricular arrhythmia and cardiac arrest requiring resuscitation but eventually recovered completely. Though there is limited information available regarding such cases, the significantly elevated initial cardiac markers in the absence of left ventricular decompensation may probably represent a clinical subset of myocarditis and may portend an impending complicated clinical course. Further systematic research is required to define the clinical phenotype and elucidate underlying mechanisms.