ATLANTA—Low hemoglobin levels are associated with increased one-year mortality and hospitalizations among pediatric hemodialysis patients, study data presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s Kidney Week 2013 suggest.
The study, by Blanche M. Chavers, MD, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and colleagues, examined the association of hemoglobin levels with the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular hospitalization and mortality in 2,696 HD patients younger than 18 years. Patients with hemoglobin levels below 10 g/dL had the highest unadjusted mortality and all-cause hospitalization rates (5.85 and 278.89 per 100 patient-years, respectively).
The rates of mortality and all-cause hospitalization (per 100 patient-years) were 4.52 and 236.24, respectively, for subjects with a hemoglobin level of 10 or higher but less than 11, 3.19 and 203.40 for those with a hemoglobin level of 10 or higher but less than 12, 1.63 and 196.63 for patients with a hemoglobin level of 12 or higher but less than 13, and 2.82 and 162.95 for those with a hemoglobin level of 13 or higher.
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The unadjusted rates of cardiovascular hospitalizations were relatively constant across hemoglobin groups except for patients with hemoglobin levels of 13 or higher, who had the lowest rate.
