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Assessment of Iron Stores in Anemic Geriatric Patients
Author(s) -
Patterson Christopher,
Turpie Irene D.,
Benger Ann M.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1985.tb04187.x
Subject(s) - medicine , transferrin saturation , anemia , anemia of chronic disease , ferritin , hemoglobin , serum iron , transferrin , iron deficiency , serum ferritin , total iron binding capacity , bone marrow , gastroenterology , physiology , pediatrics
Of patients referred to a geriatric service, 66 were identified who were clearly anemic (hemoglobin less than 12 g in men, less than 11 g in women) but whose cause of anemia was not readily identifiable by noninvasive measures. The difficulty in distinguishing iron deficiency from chronic disease as a cause of anemia by noninvasive means (serum iron, total iron binding capacity, transferrin saturation ratio, and serum ferritin), is highlighted by the poor power of these investigations when compared with bone marrow iron stores. A transferrin saturation ratio of less than 11% and a serum ferritin of less than 45 pg/L serve better than currently accepted values to identify iron deficiency in this population.