Conclusions
Anemia persists in many patients following critical illness and is associated with ongoing inflammation, inappropriate erythropoietin response and poor marrow red cell production.
Results
47% (9 of 19) of patients completing 6 months follow up recovered from their anemia. The median time to recovery was 11 wks (1, 3 quartiles: 9, 26 wks). 10 patients (53%) were still anemic 6 months after ICU discharge. No patients developed iron, vitamin B12 or folate deficiency. An inappropriately low erythropoietin response to anemia was observed in virtually all patients and did not distinguish nonrecovering patients. Patients with delayed recovery or persisting anemia during the 13 wks following ICU discharge had higher levels of circulating inflammatory markers (IL-6 and C-reactive protein) and did not exhibit reticulocytosis during the weeks following discharge. Conclusions: Anemia persists in many patients following critical illness and is associated with ongoing inflammation, inappropriate erythropoietin response and poor marrow red cell production.