The future of intravenous iron in nephrology

Abstract

Management of anaemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients can be difficult and expensive. The recently completed Trial to Reduce Cardiovascular Events with Aranesp Therapy (TREAT), the largest double-blinded trial of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA) treatment in CKD to date, provides us with a wealth of new information on the natural history of anaemia in Stage 3 and 4 CKD and the risks and benefits of use of ESAs. This section will discuss some of the TREAT trial results in the context of other recent studies of ESAs and intravenous iron in CKD patients. It will also review applying those results when choosing anaemia goals for an individual, and determining if iron therapy might improve anaemia. © The Author [2011].