title: Annual Iron Loss Associated with Hemodialysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In order to keep up the optimal iron status in chronic hemodialysis patients, it is important to know how much iron is lost due to hemodialysis. Residual blood associated with the hemodialysis procedure together with blood sampling inevitably causes the loss of iron in chronic hemodialysis patients. Recent advances in hemodialysis techniques might have reduced this complication. In this cross-sectional study, we directly measured total iron loss by hemodialysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred thirty-nine patients who received chronic hemodialysis at Otowa Memorial Hospital were enrolled; 65.7% of patients were men, and mean age was 67 ± 6.4 years (mean ± SD) and 43.2% were diabetic. Residual blood in blood tubing set and dialyzer after rinse back with saline was collected and homogenized. The iron content including free, protein-bound and heme iron was measured using an atomic absorption spectrometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean iron content in residual blood was 1,247.3 ± 796.2 µg (mean ± SD) and the median was 1,002 µg (95% CI 377.6-3,461.6 µg), indicating 160.8 mg (95% CI 58.9-540.0 mg) iron loss annually when hemodialysis was performed 156 times a year. Fifty milliliter whole blood for monthly blood test and another 2 ml of whole blood lost by paracentesis at every dialysis session contains 228.6 and 118.9 mg iron at 11 g/dl hemoglobin, respectively. Therefore, an annual total iron loss due to hemodialysis comes to 508.3 mg (95% CI 406.4-887.5 mg).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Five hundred milligram of annual iron supplementation might be sufficient to maintain iron status in hemodialysis patients, which is less than the dose recommended as 1,000-2,000 mg a year. Further study will be required to verify this iron supplementation dosage with recent hemodialysis procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsubara
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Akashi
authors.forename: Morihiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Motoko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yanagita
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D007501:Iron