[The iron reserve status in patients on regular dialysis treatment]

The authors examined the iron level, total plasma iron binding capacity, serum ferritin, the red cell haemogram and iron reserves in bone marrow of 31 patients with chronic renal failure who had regular dialyzation treatment. In 24 patients (77%) they did not detect any iron reserves in bone marrow, 22 of these patients had serum ferritin levels lower than 100 micrograms/l. The authors found a significant correlation between serum ferritin and the iron reserves in bone marrow and confirmed that assessment of serum ferritin is the most reliable non-invasive method for assessment of iron deficiency of the organism. At the same time they draw attention to the fact that the serum ferritin concentration suggesting iron deficiency in haemodialyzed patients is higher.