Can patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and iron deficiency benefit from iron supplements?

Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and iron deficiency in the absence of anemia who received iron supplements did not show significant clinical benefit at 12 weeks, according to recent study results published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

Patients with PAH and iron deficiency in the absence of anemia received parenteral iron supplementation in the treatment groups in 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 12-week crossover studies (ClinicialTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01447628). In Europe, patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to a single infusion of ferric carboxymaltose 1000 mg or saline given over the course of 15 minutes, with cross over after 12 weeks. Meanwhile, in China, patients received iron dextran 20 mg iron/kg body weight or saline. The studies were analyzed separately and combined.

Outcomes of interest included changes in iron status as well as exercise capacity (measured via cardiopulmonary exercise testing or 6-minute walk test) and cardiopulmonary hemodynamics (measured via right heart catheterization, cardiac magnetic resonance or plasma N terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide [NT-proBNP]) at 12 weeks.

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