Ricerc@Sapienza

Micronutrient deficiencies are relatively common, in particular iron and cobalamin deficiency, and may potentially lead to life-threatening clinical consequences when not promptly recognized and treated, especially in elderly patients. The stomach plays an important role in the homeostasis of some important hematopoietic micronutrients like iron and cobalamin, and probably in others equally important such as ascorbic acid, calcium, and magnesium.

Anemia is a highly prevalent comorbidity in heart failure (HF) patients and represents both a marker of HF severity and a predictor of poor prognosis.
Anemia is per se associated with impaired exercise performance and functional capacity.
Iron deficiency (ID) is an important comorbidity of HF, but the diagnosis and correction of ID remainlargely unrecognized in the cardiology community.

Background: Autoimmune atrophic gastritis (AAG) leads to iron and/or vitamin B12 malabsorption, with subsequent haematological alterations which could represent the sole clinical manifestation. We aimed to assess patterns of anaemia and micronutrient deficiencies in patients with AAG at the time of diagnosis. Methods: Observational, multicentre, cross-sectional study including consecutive adult patients diagnosed with AAG within the last ten years. Cell blood count, red cell distribution width, serum vitamin B12, and ferritin were collected.