Iron deficiency is present in one-third of the world’s population. However, heart failure patients are disproportionately affected – up to fifty percent of people living with chronic heart failure are iron deficient. Despite being a strong independent predictor of heart failure outcomes, it is often neglected. It is therefore recommended by the European Society of Cardiology that all heart failure patients be screened periodically for anemia and iron deficiency.
Several educational resources have been developed by the European Hematology Association (EHA) and the World Heart Federation (WHF) to better understand the prevalence of patients with chronic heart failure who are affected by iron deficiency, and how best to diagnose and treat iron deficiency to improve heart health in people living with heart failure.
Reflections video on the November 2020 Iron Deficiency Day meeting
The webinar host Prof. Fausto Pinto, President World Heart Federation and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon is joined by other experts Prof. Antonio Almeida and Prof. Ali Taher to explore the link between iron deficiency and heart failure and identify strategies to improve awareness and prevalence of iron deficiency in people living with heart failure. Aiste Staraite, President, Lithuanian Heart Failure Association, a heart failure patient with iron deficiency gives insight into how she manages her iron deficiency to improve her quality of life. This was from a webinar live on #IronDeficiencyDay. #UseHeart #TakeIronSeriously
Learning path for Diagnosing and Treating Iron Deficiency
Three iron deficiency diagnosis algorithms have been developed that can be used by Cardiologists and other physicians to assist with decision making when treating heart failure patients and diagnosing iron deficiency and anemia. An e-Learning podcast consultancy phone call interactive experience on anemia and heart failure have also been developed. All resources are hosted on the EHA website. It is free to access after a free account is created.
