1.
Safety and Efficacy of Intravenous Ferric Derisomaltose Compared to Iron Sucrose for Iron Deficiency Anemia in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease With and Without Heart Failure
Ambrosy AP, von Haehling S, Kalra PR, Court E, Bhandari S, McDonagh T, Cleland JGF
The American journal of cardiology. 2021
Abstract
Ferric derisomaltose (FDI) is an intravenous (IV) high-dose iron formulation approved in the US for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in adults who are intolerant of/have had an unsatisfactory response to oral iron, or who have non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD). FERWON-NEPHRO was a randomized, open-label, multicenter clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a single infusion of FDI 1,000 mg versus up to 5 doses of iron sucrose (IS) 200 mg (recommended cumulative dose, 1,000 mg) over 8 weeks in patients with NDD-CKD and iron deficiency anemia. Of 1,525 patients included in the safety analysis, 244 (16%) had a history of heart failure (HF). Overall, the rate of serious or severe hypersensitivity reactions was low and did not differ between treatment groups. Cardiovascular adverse events (AEs) were reported for 9.4% of patients who had HF and 4.2% who did not. Time to first cardiovascular AE was longer following administration of FDI compared with IS (hazard ratio: 0.59 [95% CI: 0.37, 0.92]; p=0.0185), a difference that was similar in patients with or without HF (p=0.908 for interaction). Patients achieved a faster hematological response (assessed by changes in hemoglobin and ferritin concentrations, and increase in transferrin saturation) with FDI versus IS. In conclusion, in patients with NDD-CKD, a single infusion of FDI was safe, well tolerated, and was associated with fewer cardiovascular AEs and a faster hematological response, compared to multiple doses of IS. These effects were similar for patients with and without HF.
2.
Identifying responders to oral iron supplementation in heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction: a post-hoc analysis of the IRONOUT-HF trial
Ambrosy AP, Lewis GD, Malhotra R, Jones AD, Greene SJ, Fudim M, Coles A, Butler J, Sharma A, Hernandez AF, et al
Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine. 2019;20(4):223-225
Abstract
BACKGROUND The IRONOUT-HF trial previously demonstrated that oral iron supplementation minimally increased iron stores and did not improve exercise capacity in patients with heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and iron deficiency. METHODS The IRONOUT-HF trial was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial designed to test the efficacy and safety of oral iron polysaccharide compared to matching placebo among patients with HFrEF and iron deficiency. Study participants received oral iron polysaccharide 150 mg twice daily or matching placebo for 16 weeks. Response to oral iron was defined as a ferritin level >300 ng/mL or a ferritin level 100-300 ng/mL with a transferrin saturation >20% at the end of the study. RESULTS The final analytical cohort included 98 patients with HFrEF and iron deficiency at baseline. Study participants had a median (25, 75) age of 63 years (54 years, 71 years), included 40% women (N = 39). After 16 weeks of therapy, 24 patients (24%) responded to oral iron supplementation while 74 patients (76%) remained iron deficient despite treatment. There was no association between response to oral iron supplementation and improvement in functional status (i.e. peak VO2 or anaerobic threshold), myocardial stress (i.e. NT-proBNP levels), or HRQOL (i.e. Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire) at week 16. CONCLUSION This study failed to identify a subset of responders more likely to derive a clinical benefit from oral iron therapy and does not support its routine use in patients with symptomatic HFrEF and iron deficiency.