The influence of anemia after percutaneous coronary intervention on clinical outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Although the consequences of bleeding after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are well documented, there are no data on the impact of post-PCI anemia (PPA) on clinical outcomes.

METHODS: We evaluated the incidence, predictors, and prognostic implications of PPA on clinical outcomes in 1415 PCI procedures. We compared clinical outcomes of patients with PPA (ie, nadir post-PCI hemoglobin < 10 gm/dL) vs without PPA. In patients with PPA, we assessed the influence of thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI; major or minor) bleeding, drop in hemoglobin by > or = 3 gm/dL, and use of blood transfusions on outcomes.

RESULTS: Post-PCI anemia developed in 124 (8.8%) patients. Of these, 50 (40%) suffered TIMI (major or minor) bleeding, 68 (55%) had a hemoglobin drop of > or = 3 gm/dL, and 39 (32%) patients received blood transfusions. Compared to patients without PPA, those with PPA had greater incidence of 6 month death (6.5% vs 1.7 %, p = 0.003), 6 month major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE; death, reinfarction, or target vessel revascularization; 27.3% vs 14.5%, p = 0.0006), and long-term mortality (25.8% vs 8.7 %, p or = 3 gm/dL, and use of blood transfusions did not impact outcomes.

CONCLUSION: We found that PPA is common, occurs frequently in the absence of bleeding or significant drop in hemoglobin, and connotes poor long-term outcomes.