ORLANDO, Fla.—Researchers who studied a group of nondialysis CKD patients found that about one quarter of them suffered from iron deficiency anemia.
The study, by Ebima Okundaye, MD, of New York Hospital Queens, in Flushing, N.Y., and colleagues, included 308 CKD patients in an outpatient nephrology practice. The researchers defined iron deficiency as a serum ferritin level of 100 mg/dL or less and/or an iron saturation level of 20% or less. They defined anemia as a hemoglobin level below 12 g/dL.
Dr. Okundaye’s team identified iron deficiency in 40% of subjects and observed that the prevalence of iron deficiency increased with early CKD stage (1-3). Results showed that 66% of subjects had anemia (58% of men, 69% of women) and 23% of patients had iron deficiency anemia. Among patients with anemia, iron deficiency was present in 40% of men and 30% of women. The differences between the genders were not significant.
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Researchers presented their findings here at the National Kidney Foundation’s 2010 Spring Clinical Meetings.
