SAN DIEGO—Iron deficiency is common among renal transplant recipients and it is associated with increased mortality risk independent of anemia, according to study findings presented at the Kidney Week 2015.
The study, by Michele F. Eisenga, MD, and colleagues at University Medical Center Groningen in The Netherlands, included 701 renal transplant recipients with a mean age of 53 years. The mean time since transplantation was 8.1 years. The prevalence of anemia, iron deficiency, and iron deficiency anemia was 34%, 30%, and 13%, respectively. During follow-up of 3.2 years, 81 patients (12%) died. In univariate analysis, anemia, iron deficiency, and iron deficiency anemia were associated with a 1.7, 1.8, and 2.0 times increased risk of death, respectively.
After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and anemia, iron deficiency was associated with a significant 1.8 times increased risk of death, but anemia was not. The associated of anemia with mortality disappeared after adjustment for eGFR and iron deficiency, whereas iron deficiency anemia was associated with a significant 1.8 times increased risk of death.
Continue Reading
“Since iron deficiency is a modifiable factor, correction of iron deficiency could be a target to improve survival,” the authors concluded in their study poster.
