48 Rev Esp Cardiol. 2005;58(1):48-53 72 Introduction and objectives. To evaluate the prognos- tic significance of hemoglobin (Hb) levels in terms of 1- year mortality and hospital admissions due to heart failure (HF) during the first year of follow-up after the first visit to an outpatient HF unit. Patients and method. Survival status and HF-related hospital admission rate at 1 year were analyzed for 337 patients admitted between August 2001 and March 2003. Plasma Hb level was measured at the first visit to the unit. Results. 28 patients (8%) died and there were 158 HF- related hospital admissions in 66 patients. Plasma Hb level correlated strongly with survival at 1 year, and was 13.0±1.7 g/dL in patients who were alive after this time, versus 11.7±1.6 g/dL (P<.001) in patients who died. Plasma Hb le- vel also correlated with HF-related need for hospital admis- sion, and was 13.1±1.7 g/dL in patients who were not hospi- talized, versus 12.2±1.7 g/dL (P<.001) in patients with at least 1 hospital admission. In the multivariate logistic regres- sion analysis plasma Hb level remained statistically associa- ted both with 1-year survival and with the need for HF-rela- ted hospital admission. On the basis of a cutoff value for anemia of Hb<12 g/dL, 30% of the patients had anemia. One-year mortality was 17% in patients with anemia and 5% in patients without anemia (P<.001). Among patients without anemia, 31% had at least one HF-related hospital admission, whereas only a 15% of the patients without ane- mia needed to be hospitalized for HF (P=.001). Conclusions. Plasma Hb levels correlated inversely with mortality and with HF-related hospital admissions at 1 year. The prevalence of anemia (Hb<12 g/dL) in the po- pulation with HF studied here was high and had indepen- dent prognostic value. Key words: Anemia. Hemoglobin. Heart failure. Survival. INTRODUCTION Anemia is frequent in patients with heart failure (HF) and prevalence is in the 5%-55% range depen- ding on the criteria used and population studied. 1 De- gree of anemia correlates with seriousness of HF 2-6 and Correspondence: Dr. J. Lupón. Unitat d’Insuficiència Cardíaca. Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol. Ctra. del Canyet, s/n. 08916 Badalona. Barcelona. España. E-mail: jlupon@ns.hugtip.scs.es Received April 21, 2004. Accepted for publication October 26, 2004. Significado pronóstico de los valores de hemoglobina en pacientes con insuficiencia cardíaca Introducción y objetivos. Evaluar el valor pronóstico de las concentraciones de hemoglobina (Hb) en relación con la mortalidad y con los ingresos hospitalarios por in- suficiencia cardíaca (IC) al año de la primera visita a la Unidad de IC. Pacientes y método. Conocemos la situación vital y los ingresos por IC al año en 337 pacientes admitidos en- tre agosto de 2001 y marzo de 2003. Las concentracio- nes de Hb se recogieron en la primera visita. Resultados. Fallecieron 28 (8%) pacientes y hubo 158 ingresos por IC en 66 pacientes. Los valores de Hb se asociaron con la mortalidad a 1 año (pacientes vivos, 13,0 ± 1,7 g/dl; pacientes fallecidos, 11,6 ± 1,7 g/dl; p < 0,001) y con la necesidad de ingresar por IC (pacientes sin ingresos, 13,1 ± 1,7 g/dl; pacientes con al menos un ingreso, 12,2 ± 1,7 g/dl; p < 0,001). En el análisis multiva- riable, los valores de Hb mantuvieron la significación es- tadística. Definida la anemia como Hb < 12 g/dl, el 30% de los pacientes estaba anémico. La mortalidad al año fue del 17% en los pacientes anémicos y del 5% en el grupo sin anemia (p < 0,001). El 31% de los pacientes con anemia tuvo al menos un ingreso hospitalario por IC, mientras que sólo el 15% de los pacientes no anémicos precisó ingresar (p = 0,001). Conclusiones. Los valores de Hb se asocian inversa- mente con la mortalidad y los ingresos por IC en el primer año de seguimiento. La prevalencia de anemia en nues- tra población con IC es elevada y tiene valor pronóstico independiente. Palabras clave: Anemia. Hemoglobina. Insuficiencia cardíaca. Supervivencia. SEE EDITORIAL ON PAGES 10-2 H EART F AILURE Prognostic Significance of Hemoglobin Levels in Patients With Heart Failure Josep Lupón, Agustín Urrutia, Beatriz González, Juan Herreros, Salvador Altimir, Ramon Coll, Montserrat Prats, Celestino Rey-Joly, and Vicente Valle Unitat d´Insuficiència Cardíaca, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.