The risk of death for patients with dialysis-related anemia is increased when hemoglobin levels are persistently low, not necessarily when they fluctuate, according to a study recently published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (2007; published online ahead of print).
“Our results show that the effect of hemoglobin variability, beyond the absolute level of hemoglobin, may not confer much additional risk, after adjusting for other illnesses and hospitalizations,” said investigator David T. Gilbertson, PhD, of the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation. He and his colleagues analyzed data on about 160,000 dialysis patients.
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