Abstract
Abstract Objectives Diagnosing disturbances in iron metabolism can be challenging when accompanied by inflammation. New diagnostic tools such as the “Thomas-plot” (TP) (relation of soluble transferrin receptor [sTfR]/log ferritin to reticulocyte hemoglobin content [RET-He]) were established to improve classification of anemias. Aim of this retrospective study was to assess the added diagnostic value of the TP in anemia work up. Methods Patients from December 2016 to September 2018 with a complete blood count, iron status, RET-He and sTfR were manually classified into the four quadrants of the TP on basis of conventional iron markers. Manual and algorithm-based classifications were compared using cross tabulations, Box–Whisker-Plots as well as Receiver-Operating-Characteristics (ROC) to calculate the diagnostic accuracy using Area under the Curve (AUC) analysis. Results A total of 3,745 patients with a conventional iron status, including 1,721 TPs, could be evaluated. In 70% of the cases the manual classification was identical to the TP, in 10% it was deviant. 20% could not clearly be classified, mostly due to inflammatory conditions. In the absence of an inflammatory condition, ferritin was a reliable parameter to define iron deficiency (ID) (AUC 0.958). In the presence of inflammation, the significance of the ferritin index (AUC 0.917) and of the RET-He (AUC 0.957) increased. Conclusions The TP can be useful for narrowing down the causes of anemia in complex cases. Further studies with focus on special patient groups, e.g., oncological or rheumatic patients, are desirable.
Highlights
Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia in at least 50% of all cases [1]
Patients from December 2016 to September 2018 with a complete blood count, iron status, reticulocyte hemoglobin (RET-He) and soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) were manually classified into the four quadrants of the TP on basis of conventional iron markers
The TP can be useful for narrowing down the causes of anemia in complex cases
Summary
The diagnosis in young patients without comorbidities is rather simple by determining the blood count and ferritin Both the diagnosis and the therapy of disorders in iron metabolism are challenging if they occur in the context of renal anemia or in combination with acute or chronic inflammatory diseases, infections, or malignant tumors [2]. This so-called “anemia of chronic disease” (ACD) is the second most frequent anemia after iron deficiency anemia (IDA), and probably the most frequent cause in hospitalized patients [3]. It may be difficult to distinguish IDA from ACD during acute-phase-reaction (APR), the conventional iron parameters (ferritin, transferrin, transferrin saturation (TSAT) being insensitive and only of limited use [2, 9, 10]
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