Severe iron deficiency anemia in young children

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Updated: Oct 19, 2026

A Point-of-Care Method with Integrated Decision Support Tool to Estimate Anemia at Population Level
05:35

A Point-of-Care Method with Integrated Decision Support Tool to Estimate Anemia at Population Level

Published on: January 19, 2024

J L Kwiatkowski1, T B West, N Heidary

  • 1Division of Hematology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.

The Journal of Pediatrics
|October 13, 1999
PubMed

Insights

Severe nutritional iron deficiency anemia often presents without symptoms and is common in Southeast Asian populations. Most patients recover with iron therapy, though some may need transfusions.

Area of Science:

  • Hematology
  • Nutritional Science
  • Clinical Medicine

Background:

  • Nutritional iron deficiency anemia is a significant global health concern.
  • Understanding the clinical presentation and outcomes of severe cases is crucial for effective management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To retrospectively characterize the clinical features of patients with severe nutritional iron deficiency anemia.
  • To identify demographic factors and treatment outcomes in this patient cohort.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective chart review of 55 patients diagnosed with severe nutritional iron deficiency anemia.
  • Analysis of clinical complaints, demographic data (including ancestry), and treatment responses.

Main Results:

  • Anemia was frequently diagnosed incidentally, without specific patient complaints.
  • Forty percent of the study population were of Southeast Asian descent.
  • The majority of patients achieved successful treatment with iron supplementation alone; 8 patients (approximately 14.5%) required blood transfusions.

Conclusions:

  • Severe nutritional iron deficiency anemia can be asymptomatic and may disproportionately affect individuals of Southeast Asian ancestry.
  • Iron therapy is an effective primary treatment, but transfusion support may be necessary for a subset of patients.

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