Systematic review and meta‐analysis of intravenous iron‐carbohydrate complexes in HFrEF patients with iron deficiency

Abstract Iron deficiency (ID) is a common co‐morbidity in patients with heart failure (HF). The present meta‐analysis evaluates the effect of intravenous (IV) iron‐carbohydrate complex supplementation in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and ID/iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing IV iron‐carbohydrate complexes with placebo/standard of care in patients with HFrEF with ID/IDA were identified using Embase (from 1957) and PubMed (from 1989) databases through 25 May 2021. Twelve RCTs including 2381 patients were included in this analysis. The majority (90.8%) of patients receiving IV iron‐carbohydrate therapy were administered ferric carboxymaltose (FCM); 7.5% received iron sucrose and 1.6% received iron isomaltoside. IV iron‐carbohydrate therapy significantly reduced hospitalization for worsening HF [0.53 (0.42–0.65); P