Three-year follow-up after withdrawal of iron therapy in uremic patients on regular dialytic treatment

• Published in: Ricerca in clinica e in laboratorio Vol. 16; no. 4; p. 517
• Main Authors: Thea, A, Canavese, C, Mangiarotti, G, Pacitti, A, Salomone, M, Calitri, V, Fidelio, T, Ragni, R, Vercellone, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Italy 01.10.1986
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Female; Ferritins - blood; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Iron - metabolism; Iron - therapeutic use; Male; Middle Aged; Renal Dialysis; Time Factors; Transferrin - metabolism; Uremia - blood; Uremia - therapy
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02886833
• ISSN: 0390-5748

Iron supplementation is commonly recommended in uremic patients undergoing regular dialytic treatment in order to correct a presumed iron deficiency due to impaired absorption and dialytic losses. Serum ferritin levels show an iron overload in 83% of 136 patients on 1.25 g/year i.v. iron therapy. After the withdrawal of iron therapy, directly correlated ferritin levels and percentage transferrin saturation decreased slowly, except in carriers of HLA-A3 antigens and in polytransfused patients. In these latter patients, desferrioxamine reduced but did not normalize the iron balance. The 16 patients who never received iron therapy showed a normal iron balance over a 3-year follow-up. Despite iron-ferritin therapy, 11 patients with baseline ferritin values at the lower normal limits showed a tendency toward further depletion. Orally administered bivalent iron seems to be more promising in normalizing iron-deficient patients without potentially harmful overloading.