title: Ferritin trends do not predict changes in total body iron in patients with transfusional iron overload.
abstract: Ferritin levels and trends are widely used to manage iron overload and assess the efficacy of prescribed iron chelation in patients with transfusional iron loading. A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 134 patients with transfusion-dependent anemia, over a period of up to 9 years. To determine whether the trends in ferritin adequately reflect the changes in total body iron, changes in ferritin between consecutive liver iron measurements by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were compared to changes in liver iron concentrations (LIC), a measure of total body iron. The time period between two consecutive LIC measurements was defined as a segment. Trends in ferritin were considered to predict the change in LIC within a segment if the change in one parameter was less than twofold that of the other, and was in the same direction. Using the exclusion criteria detailed in methods, the trends in ferritin were compared to changes in LIC in 358 segments. An agreement between ferritin trends and LIC changes was found in only 38% of the 358 segments examined. Furthermore, the change in ferritin was in opposite direction to that of LIC in 26% of the segments. Trends in ferritin were a worse predictor of changes in LIC in sickle cell disease than in thalassemia (P < 0.01). While ferritin is a convenient measure of iron status; ferritin trends were unable to predict changes in LIC in individual patients. Ferritin trends need to be interpreted with caution and confirmed by direct measurement of LIC.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Mammen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puliyel
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sposto
authors.forename: Vasilios A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Berdoukas
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Hofstra
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nord
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carson
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Coates
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy; D015415:Biomarkers; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D007502:Iron Chelating Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019190:Iron Overload / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007502:Iron Chelating Agents; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron