Efficacy and safety of intravenous iron therapy in heart failure patients with iron deficiency: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Abstract Background Heart failure is a diverse life-threatening condition with complex biology and demanding therapeutic goals. Even when anemic patients are excluded, up to 59% of heart failure patients have low ferritin levels, making them especially vulnerable to iron deficiency. Purpose To assess the complete data derived from Randomized controlled trials concerning the benefits and safety of IV ferric carboxymaltose therapy among patients with heart failure with iron deficiency. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials obtained from PubMed, WOS, SCOPUS, EMBASE, and Cochrane up to August 31, 2023. We used RevMan V. 5.4 to pool dichotomous data using a risk ratio (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results We included 14 randomized controlled trials with a total of 6,626 patients. The IV iron group was favored over the control group in reducing hospital admissions for heart failure (first event) (RR= 0.83, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.97; p = 0.02) and (total events) (RR= 0.81, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.89; p < 0.0001). Also, the iron group had a 21% lower risk in terms of cardiovascular death and hospital admission for HF (number of events, rate per 100 patients in a year) (RR= 0.79, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.85; p < 0.00001). Concerning the adverse events, both ferric carboxymaltose and ferric derisomaltose showed a beneficial effect in reducing the cardiac disorder (RR= 0.81, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.87; p <0.0001), and (RR= 0.82, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.95; p = 0.009), respectively. Conclusion IV iron infusion in patients with heart failure has a favorable safety profile. It reduces total hospitalizations for heart failure and cardiovascular mortality, with no effect on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality alone, or first-time hospitalization for heart failure.