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Ali Asad Khan*, Ali Salman Khan, Yasir Shafi, Anam Ali and Sajid Abaidullah King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan Corresponding Author: Ali Asad Khan King Edward Medical University Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan E-mail: asad.kemcolian@gmail.com Retraction Note The article entitled “Body mass index: not a predictor for hiatus hernia of esophagus” has been accepted for publication in the Clinical Practice (Therapy): Open Access considering the statements provided in the article as personal opinion of the author which was found not having any conflict or biasness towards anything. As the article was a perspective one, information provided by the author was considered as an opinion to be expressed through publication. Publisher took decision to make the article online solely based on the reviewers suggestion which considered the article not but a personal opinion of the author. However, it is found that the author have some personal concerns and issues, therefore, being retracted from the journal.

Objectives: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) develop anemia which is treated with erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESAs). However, ESAs do not reduce the risk of cardiovascular mortality. Furthermore, this is unclear whether ESAs therapy has any association with adverse cardiovascular events. Methods: After an informed consent 275 male and female patients, between ages 35 to 75 years, with CKD stage V on ESAs undergoing twice weekly hemodialysis were enrolled. The dose of ESAs was calculated according to weight as 50mg/kg with target hemoglobin being 11 – 12 g/dl. Dose adjustments were made in the patients who failed to achieve target hemoglobin. The patients were followed for a year with the primary end point being new evidence of acute myocardial infarction (MI) diagnosed through ECG or echocardiography. Safety outcomes included stroke or death. Results: The data was entered and analyzed in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18 Out of 275 patients, 164 (59.6%) patients were males and 111 (40.4%) were females. Mean age of the patients was 51.52 with standard deviation of ± 5.73. According to the results, 52 (18.9%) patients reported with MI and 223 (81.1%) patients had no evidence of MI. Out of 52 patients who had MI, 37 (71.1%) were males and 15 (28.8%) patients were female. Conclusion: ESAs are associated with an increased risk of MI in CKD patients on hemodialysis. Whether there is a direct association or there are other factors involved remains to be seen.