Anemia and 90-day mortality in COPD patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation

Lone Rasmussen1,2, Steffen Christensen1,2, Poul Lenler-Petersen2, Søren P Johnsen11Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; 2Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Silkeborg Hospital, Silkeborg, DenmarkBackground: There are data to suggest that anemia is associated with increased mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In contrast, critically ill patients with low hemoglobin levels (4.3–5.5 mmol/L, 7.0–9.0 g/dL) in general do not appear to have a worsened clinical outcome. The effects of anemia in critically ill patients with COPD remain to be clarified. We examined the association between anemia (hemoglobin < 7.4 mmol/L,