Objectives To find the prevalence of anaemia in patients hospitalised with diagnosis of congestive heart failure (CHF) in our department of cardiology.

Background There is growing evidence that anaemia is common in CHF and may contribute to the high morbidity and mortality of this condition. There is considerable disagreement about the prevalence of anaemia in this condition.

Methods In 219 consecutive patients were admitted to our hospital (January–December 2010) with diagnosis of CHF we extracted from the charts the haemoglobin (Hb), serum creatinine, age, sex, NYHA functional class, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and cardiac aetiology of the CHF.Anaemia was considered when the Hb on admission was <12 g/dl.

Results The patients were NYHA functional class III-IV.118 (53.8%) of the 219 patients had a Hb on admission that was <12 g/dl. The mean Hb for the entire group was 12.0+/−1.8 g/dl. 54(51.9%) of the 104 women were anaemic compared to 64 (55.6 %) of the 115 men. The mean serum creatinine was 1.8+/−1.2 mg/dl. The prevalence of renal insufficiency (serum creatinine >1.5 mg%) was 48.5%. There was a negative correlation between the level of serum creatinine and Hb (p<0.00001.) Of the 118 patients who were anaemic, most of 76 (64.4%) had a serum creatinine >1.6 mg/dl.

Conclusions Anaemia is a common finding in patients hospitalised with CHF .In view of the negative effect of anaemia on cardiac function, it may be important contributor to the mortality and morbidity of CHF in these patients.