The recently developed method of measuring serum ferritin by using radioisotope has
assumed a very important role in the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia. The serum
ferritin level of a patient with iron deficiency anemia (I.D.A.) is very low, compared to
that of normal person. While, the patients with anemias other than I.D.A. and some
kinds of diseases may reveal elevated serum ferritin level.
Author measured serum ferritin level by using two-site immunoradiometric assay,
serum iron, total iron binding capacity from which the transferrin saturation is
determined by using modified Goodwin method on 24 patients confirmed to have I.D.A.
and normal controls comprised of healthy 66 males and 60 females.
The results are summarized as follows.
1) The average serum ferritin, iron level, and transferrin saturation of male controls
were 63.8ng/ml, 103.2㎍/100ml, 32.8%, and those of female controls were 20.3ng/ml,
68.3㎍/100ml, 24.2%, respectively.
2) The average serum ferritin, iron level, and transferrin saturation of patients with
I.D.A. were 9.1ng/ml, 97.3㎍/100m1, 16.2% and these values were lower than those of
normal healthy controls.
3) The finding of bone marrow iron was closely correlated with serum ferritin level
and transferrin saturation, but not so well with serum iron level.
4) Serum ferritin level and transferrin saturation of the patients with I.D.A. were
significantly lower than those of normal controls (p<0.05), but the serum iron level did
not show a significant difference from that of normal controls (p>0.05) .
From above results, it can be said that single measurements of serum iron or T.I.B.C.
could hardly help the diagnosis of I.D.A. So the two factors should be measured at the
same time for the determination of transferrin saturation. But, the transferrin saturation
can hardly indicate the presence of I.D.A. in some cases. The measurement of serum
ferritin is relatively simple and often useful for the diagnosis and follow-up of treatment
of I.D.A.
When some I.D.A. patients show normal serum ferritin levels, bone marrow examina-
tion should be indicated for the exact diagnosis.
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