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HEMATOLOGY: ISSUES IN THE DIALYSIS PATIENT: Anemia Management in Chronic Kidney Disease: What Have We Learned after 17 Years?
Author(s) -
Spiegel David M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
seminars in dialysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1525-139X
pISSN - 0894-0959
DOI - 10.1111/j.1525-139x.2006.00171.x
Subject(s) - medicine , kidney disease , erythropoietin , anemia , hemoglobin , intensive care medicine , dialysis , prospective cohort study , randomized controlled trial , population , environmental health
ABSTRACT Anemia management remains controversial in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The overwhelming conclusion from retrospective data analyses show a strong correlation between higher hemoglobin values and improved outcomes, including mortality, hospitalization, left ventricular hypertrophy, and quality of life. However, the evidence available from two large prospective trials in CKD comparing hemoglobin values near the current target of 11–12 g/dl with normalization or near normalization were stopped, as there was a trend toward worsening outcomes in the higher hemoglobin groups. This disparity suggests that patients who have or achieve high hemoglobin values on low doses or no erythropoietin may be inherently different from the general CKD population. Therefore targeting to a hemoglobin value above the current recommendation with intermittent erythropoietin seems unwarranted until randomized prospective trials demonstrate both safety and efficacy.