Serum transferrin receptor in the evaluation of the iron status in elderly hospitalized patients with anemia
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Ronny van Loon; Norbert Blanckaert; Ria Fabri; Jaak Billen; Etienne Joosten; Walter Pelemans
- Source
- American Journal of Hematology. 69:1-6
- Subject
- Erythrocyte Indices
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Anemia
Iron
Population
Nutritional Status
Sensitivity and Specificity
Gastroenterology
Diagnosis, Differential
Hemoglobins
Bone Marrow
hemic and lymphatic diseases
Internal medicine
Receptors, Transferrin
medicine
Humans
Prospective Studies
education
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
chemistry.chemical_classification
education.field_of_study
Anemia, Iron-Deficiency
medicine.diagnostic_test
biology
business.industry
C-reactive protein
Transferrin
Hematology
medicine.disease
Bone marrow examination
C-Reactive Protein
medicine.anatomical_structure
Iron-deficiency anemia
chemistry
Chronic Disease
Ferritins
Immunology
biology.protein
Female
Bone marrow
business
Anemia of chronic disease
- Language
- ISSN
- 1096-8652
0361-8609
The aim of the present study is to evaluate in an elderly hospitalized population the diagnostic value of the serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) in distinguishing IDA (iron deficiency anemia) from ACD (anemia of chronic disease) as compared to conventional laboratory tests of iron metabolism, especially serum ferritin. In a prospective study, 34 patients with IDA and 38 patients with ACD (a chronic disorder in 23 and an acute infection in 15) were evaluated using iron status tests including serum transferrin receptor assay. The iron stores were assessed by bone marrow examination. sTfR levels were elevated (>28.1 nmol/L) in 68% of the IDA patients but also in 43% of the patients with ACD-chronic inflammation and 33% with ACD-acute infection. Serum ferritin was the best test to differentiate IDA from ACD patients. We conclude that serum ferritin is a more sensitive and specific parameter than the sTfR assay to predict the bone marrow iron status in an elderly anemic population.