REVIEW New drugs Iron deficiency and heart failure: diagnostic dilemmas and therapeutic perspectives

Iron is a micronutrient essential for cellular energy and metabolism, necessary for maintaining body homoeostasis. Iron deficiency is an im-portant co-morbidity in patients with heart failure (HF). A major factor in the pathogenesis of anaemia, it is also a separate condition with serious clinical consequences (e.g. impaired exercise capacity) and poor prognosis in HF patients. Experimental evidence suggests that iron therapy in iron-deficient animals may activate molecular pathways that can be cardio-protective. Clinical studies have demonstrated favour-able effects of i.v. iron on the functional status, quality of life, and exercise capacity in HF patients. It is hypothesized that i.v. iron supple-mentation may become a novel therapy in HF patients with iron deficiency