title: Red blood cell zinc protoporphyrin measurement for assessment of peripartum iron deficiency.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the effectiveness of the rapid red blood cell zinc protorphyrin (RBC-ZPP) test for the detection of women with iron-deficiency anemia in the peripartum period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood was drawn prospectively from 150 healthy parturient women upon admission to the labor and delivery room and 72 hours after delivery. Concentration of RBC-ZPP was measured and correlated with hemoglobin level (p = 0.001), mean corpuscular volume (p = 0.002), hematocrit (p = 0.0001), platelet count (p = 0.002), and serum iron (p = 0.0001), serum ferritin (p = 0.0001) and serum transferrin (p = 0.0001) concentrations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  RBC-ZPP concentration showed a significant increase from pre-delivery to 72 hours post-delivery. This change correlated significantly with the changes in all the other parameters studied.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The RBC-ZPP test is a reliable, rapid, easy-to-perform, and inexpensive method of screening low-risk women, after uneventful vaginal delivery, for iron deficiency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tiqva, Israel.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aschkenazi
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shaklai
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blickstein
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bar
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ben-Rafael
mesh_terms: D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006419:Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing) / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D006801:Humans; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011524:Protoporphyrins / Q000097:blood*; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D011524:Protoporphyrins; C017803:zinc protoporphyrin; D006419:Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing)