Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42881421›Full record

ArticleJournal of intensive care2026

Hemoglobin trends and transfusion practices after cardiac arrest: a cohort study.

Luke Andrea, Gregory Marecki, Joshua M Kimbrell, Dennis Lin, Felice Chandra, ChihHao Yuan, Ari Moskowitz

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Article in Journal of intensive care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Luke AndreaBronx Center for Critical Care Outcomes and Resuscitation Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA. landrea@montefiore.org.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6242-8948
Gregory MareckiBronx Center for Critical Care Outcomes and Resuscitation Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.
Joshua M KimbrellBronx Center for Critical Care Outcomes and Resuscitation Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.
Dennis LinBronx Center for Critical Care Outcomes and Resuscitation Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.
Felice ChandraBronx Center for Critical Care Outcomes and Resuscitation Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.
ChihHao YuanBronx Center for Critical Care Outcomes and Resuscitation Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.
Ari MoskowitzBronx Center for Critical Care Outcomes and Resuscitation Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHemoglobin targets are absent from post-cardiac arrest guidelines. New trials suggest that patients with brain and myocardial injury, injuries common post-arrest, may benefit from higher hemoglobin targets. Trends in post-arrest hemoglobin and real-world practices remain poorly characterized.

methodsWe performed a retrospective cohort study of consecutive adult cardiac arrests at three academic hospitals. We screened in-hospital and out-of-hospital arrests with resuscitation efforts ongoing at hospital arrival for inclusion. Patients who survived the initial resuscitation and had a hemoglobin value measured were included. All post-arrest hemoglobin values and red blood cell transfusions were collected through 30 days; descriptive statistics and graphical visualization were used to present hemoglobin trends and transfusion practices. Exploratory analyses evaluated the association between hemoglobin and in-hospital mortality.

resultsOf 2,634 cardiac arrests, 958 met inclusion criteria, with 152 (15.9%) out-of-hospital arrests and 806 (84.1%) in-hospital. The mean initial post-arrest hemoglobin was 9.75 g/dL (SD 2.60), with hemoglobin levels declining progressively over the first 20 days post-arrest. Red cell transfusions were delivered for 369 (38.5%) patients in the 30 days post-arrest, with 1,238 total transfusions. The mean pre-transfusion hemoglobin value was 6.96 g/dL (SD 1.06). Pre-transfusion hemoglobin levels were < 7 g/dL for 762 (61.6%) of transfusions, and ≥ 7 g/dL for 476 (38.4%) of transfusions. Over 30 days, the highest proportion of patients transfused was in the first 48 h. Patients with initial post-arrest hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL had lower in-hospital mortality (adjusted OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.46-0.84, p<0.01). In time-varying analysis, post-arrest hemoglobin through 30 days demonstrated an L-shaped association with mortality, with 95% of the total reduction in mortality hazard captured below 9.20 g/dL.

conclusionsAnemia is common after cardiac arrest, worsening in initial survivors. There is substantial variation in pre-transfusion hemoglobin levels, reflecting clinical equipoise. Clinical trials are needed to disentangle anemia as a driver versus a marker of outcomes, and test whether the risk is modifiable.

Indexed as

Cardiac arrestHemoglobinPost-cardiac arrest careRed blood cell transfusion

Identifiers

PMID42881421
PMCPMC13670545

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.