[Evaluation of blood ferritin in sideropenic anemia and its modifications in the course of divided-dose parenteral iron therapy].

Changes in blood ferritin during divided dose parenteral iron therapy and the importance of ferritin evaluation in iron-deficiency anaemia were investigated in 20 women and 10 men with this diagnosis through withdrawals before and after treatment. In 6 subjects, blood ferritin values enabled the presence of iron deficiency to be ruled out, since they were high at the first control (in agreement with the histological examination of the marrow in the search for iron deposits). In sideropenic males, the difference between values at the time of diagnosis and those of normal controls was significant (p less than 0.001). The absence of this finding in the females may have been due to over-low values in the normal controls. Blood ferritin values during therapy gradually rose until its termination. The conclusion is drawn that at any rate in males the determination of blood ferritin can be a useful aid in the diagnosis of iron-deficiency anaemia, and in the demonstration of normal reserves after treatment.