Unusually high ferritin in a patient with obstructive jaundice

An 81-year-old gentleman, who had evidence of extrahepatic biliary obstruction, was found to have a serum ferritin concentration of 10,892 μg/L, which later increased to more than 40,000 μg/L when he developed sepsis. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was performed with stent insertion allowing drainage of the bile. The rising pattern of serum ferritin concentrations, bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase noted before the procedure was followed by a steep fall in these biochemical markers after the insertion of the stent.