The impact of ferric derisomaltose on cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular events in patients with anemia, iron deficiency and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction

In some countries, intravenous (IV) ferric derisomaltose (FDI) is only licensed for treating iron deficiency with anemia. Accordingly, we investigated the effects of intravenous FDI in a subgroup of patients with anemia in the IRONMAN trial.IRONMAN enrolled patients with heart failure, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤45% and iron deficiency (ferritin <100 µg/L or TSAT <20%), 771 (68%) of whom had anemia (hemoglobin <12 g/dL for women; <13 g/dL for men). Patients were randomized, open-label, to FDI (n=397) or usual care (n=374) and followed for a median of 2.6 years. The primary endpoint, recurrent hospitalization for heart failure and cardiovascular death, occurred less frequently for those assigned to FDI (rate ratio 0.78 [95% CI 0.61 - 1.01); p=0.063). First-event analysis for cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure, less affected by the COVID pandemic, gave similar results (hazard ratio 0.77 [95% CI 0.62 - 0.96]; p=0.022). Patients randomized to FDI reported a better Minnesota Living with Heart Failure quality-of-life, for overall (p = 0.013) and physical-domain (p = 0.00093) scores at four months.In patients with iron deficiency anemia and heart failure with reduced LVEF, IV FDI improves quality of life and may reduce cardiovascular events.