[Diagnostic value of serum iron metabolism parameters in patients with malignant and reactive histiocytosis]

Difficulties in the morphological diagnosis of the diseases due to proliferation of mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) cells have stimulated the search for additional differential-diagnostic criteria. The investigations were conducted in 10 malignant histiocytosis, 16 histiocytosis-X, and 34 reactive histiocytosis patients. The assay of serum ferritin was shown to have high informative value for clinical practice. The presence of extremely high hyperferritinemia in patients with morphologically verified histiocytic proliferations has evidenced a malignant character of the process.