TABLE 1

Four randomized controlled trials of hemoglobin-raising in chronic kidney disease

	NHCT⁵²	CHOIR⁵³	CREATE⁵⁴	TREAT⁵⁵
Population	Patients with chronic heart failure and end-stage renal disease on dialysis	Chronic kidney disease	Chronic kidney disease	Chronic kidney disease with diabetes
Hemoglobin target	10 vs 14 g/dL	13.5 vs 11.3 g/dL	> 13 vs 11 g/dL	> 13 vs 9 g/dL
Target achieved?	No	No	Yes	No
Primary outcomes	Time to death or first myocardial infarction	Composite of death, myocardial infarction, hospitalization for chronic heart failure, stroke	Time to first cardiovascular event	Composite of death or a cardiovascular event and death or end-stage renal disease
Risks with higher hemoglobin level	Trend toward increased risk of primary outcome resulted in early study interruption	Increased risk of primary outcome	Trend toward risk increase that was nonsignificant: no benefits	No risk increase or reduction
Other results	Higher rate of thrombosis in high-target group		Improved quality of life	Higher rate of stroke

NHCT = Normal Hematocrit Study,⁵² CHOIR = Correction of Hemoglobin and Outcomes in Renal Insufficiency trial,⁵³ CREATE = Cardiovascular Risk Reduction by Early Anemia Treatment trial,⁵⁴ TREAT = Trial to Reduce Cardiovascular Events With Aranesp Therapy⁵⁵