Bone marrow cellularity and iron stores in chronic renal failure

Bone marrow biopsies of 15 patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) were compared with those of a control group matched for age and sex. Using a point-counting method for assessing cellularity, there was no significant difference in marrow cellularity between the CRF patients and the control group. There was a significant difference in the myeloid-erythroid ratio (p < 0.05) between the control group and the CRF patients, the latter group having a lower ratio. A point-counting method was used for the assessment of iron stores. Of 8 CRF patients who had not been given intravenous iron, oral iron or blood transfusion, 2 had greater iron stores than the control group.