[Potential coulometry, a new methodology for the determination of iron concentration in serum. Comparison with the...

Iron concentration was determined by the aid of the ESA Ferrochem 3050 analyzer and the bathophenanthroline method with deproteinization. Both methods showed a good precision and accuracy. The investigation was carried out in 505 sera with an iron concentration between 9 and 333 micrograms/dl. The comparison of the two methods in 360 sera with normal iron concentration (40-150 micrograms/dl) showed a close correlation (correlation coefficient r = 0.965). Close correlation (correlation coefficient r = 0.939) was also found in the 35 sera with increased iron concentration (150-333 micrograms/dl) and acceptable correlation (correlation coefficient r = 0.808) resulted in the 110 sera with decreased iron concentration (9-40 micrograms/dl). The special merits of the potential coulometric method were precision, quickness in the time of analysis and very small sample size (50 microliters), important for pediatric analyses.