Results Baseline
Characteristics
Out of a total of 338 stage 3 to 5 ND-CKD patients, 12 patients were excluded from the analysis due to starting chronic dialysis within the first month after enrollment (n=4) or were lost to follow-up after the initial visit (n=8). Thus, the final sample consisted of 326 CKD patients (Table 1). Overall, 68% of the study population had anemia (n=221). Patients with anemia were further divided based on the presence of volume overload (anemia with excess OH) or not (true anemia). The patients in the 2 groups were similar with regard to age, sex, smoking history, eGFR, and ferritin levels, but diabetes and CVD were more prevalent in the volume overload group. Additionally, patients with anemia with excess OH were found to have significantly lower serum albumin, as well as higher systolic blood pressure, urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, and interleukin-6 at baseline, compared with patients with true anemia