Iron deficiency in patients with cardiovascular diseases

This review focuses on definition of iron deficiency (ID) in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), pathophysiology of ID in coronary artery disease (CAD) and chronic heart failure (CHF). The currently studied effects of ID therapy in patients with CAD and CHF are highlighted. Most of the published studies demonstrate the negative impact of iron deficiency on the structure and function of the heart, quality of life and prognosis of patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and CHF. The effectiveness of ID correction in patients has been studied extensively, nevertheless there are ongoing studies on the evaluation of efficacy of various parenteral iron forms, as well as on their influence on long-term prognosis in patients with CHF. The correction of iron deficiency reduces the damage and necrosis size in patients with MI, improves left ventricular systolic function and exercise capacity after MI. At the same time, the available data on the ID correction in patients with CHF after myocardial infarction are insufficient and require further study.