Importance of anemia in the chronic Cardiorenal syndrome: Effects on renal function after heart transplantation

BACKGROUND Cardiorenal syndrome has been recently divided into 5 categories, according to acute or chronic evolution and primary organ dysfunction. Anemia can also accompany this disorder, leading to a more complex situation. This study aims to analyze the renal outcomes of patients, specifically patients with chronic Cardiorenal syndrome, with or without anemia, long-term after heart transplantation. MATERIAL/METHODS This was a retrospective cohort study on chronic Cardiorenal syndrome patients submitted to heart transplantation. Patients were divided according to presence of anemia and renal dysfunction before heart transplantation. RESULTS A total of 108 patients (92 males) with the mean age of 45±12 years were included. The etiologies of the heart failure were hypertensive dilated myocardiopathy (66%), ischemic (14%) and Chagasic (12%). Before the heart transplantation, 51 patients had an eGFR less than 60 mL/min. From these, 24 had concomitant anemia. One year after the transplantation, patients with previous isolated renal dysfunction ameliorates eGFR (45±11 vs. 65±26 mL/min, p<0.001), while those patients with previous renal dysfunction and anemia presented no improvement (eGFR 44±14 vs. 47±13 mL/min, p=0.619) 1 year after heart transplantation. Moreover, higher hemoglobin was an independent predictor of eGFR improvement after heart transplantation when associated with previous renal dysfunction (OR 1.8; CI 1.2-3.6, p<0.01 for each hemoglobin increment of 1 g/dL). CONCLUSIONS Patients with isolated Cardiorenal syndrome presented partial renal function recovery after heart transplantation, while the presence of cardiorenal anemia was a marker of renal function non-recovery 1 year after heart transplantation.