Impact of Darbepoetin Alfa on Exercise Tolerance and Left Ventricular Structure in Subjects With Symptomatic Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and Anemia

Inclusion Criteria: - Symptomatic CHF for at least 3 months - Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction - Stable heart failure medication - Peak VO2 less than or equal to 16 ml/kg/min - Hemoglobin concentration between 9.0 and 12.0 g/dL Exclusion Criteria: - Hypertension - Unstable angina pectoris or recent myocardial infarction - Likely to receive cardiac transplant - Unable to do cardiopulmonary exercise testing - Major organ transplant (e.g., lung, liver, heart) or renal replacement therapy (e.g., dialysis) - Recent or current treatment for malignancy - Systemic hematologic disease - Anemia due to acute or chronic bleeding - Recent Epogen® or darbepoetin alfa therapy - Recent blood transfusion