<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Introduction. Reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent (RET-He) is a new parameter for evaluating iron status. This study aims to assess diagnostic value and investigate RET-He as early predictor of response to intravenous iron supplementation.Methods. Seventy-two regular hemodialysis patients at Adam Malik Hospital were studied from April to May 2011. RET-He was compared with conventional iron parameters for identification of iron deficiency. Fifteen patients with iron deficiency anemia were selected to receive 100 mg iron sucrose intravenous during every dialysis session (2x/weeks) for 4 weeks.Results. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for RET-He revealed the value of area under the curve was 0.818 (p &lt; 0.0001). Using cutoff level 31.65 pg, RET-He showed 81.5% sensitivity and 61.6% specificity. Serum ferritin (r = 0.499, p &lt; 0.0001) and transferrin saturation/ TSAT (r = 0.592, p&lt;0.0001) were correlated to RET-He. Significant improvement in hemoglobin, hematocrit and RET-He were found after intervention (p = 0.023, p = 0.049 and p = 0.019, respectively).Conclusion. RET-He is a useful marker of iron deficiency and early predictor of response to intravenous iron supplementation in regular hemodialysis patients.</abstract>

Introduction. Reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent (RET-He) is a new parameter for evaluating iron status. This study aims to assess diagnostic value and investigate RET-He as early predictor of response to intravenous iron supplementation.Methods. Seventy-two regular hemodialysis patients at Adam Malik Hospital were studied from April to May 2011. RET-He was compared with conventional iron parameters for identification of iron deficiency. Fifteen patients with iron deficiency anemia were selected to receive 100 mg iron sucrose intravenous during every dialysis session (2x/weeks) for 4 weeks.Results. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for RET-He revealed the value of area under the curve was 0.818 (p < 0.0001). Using cutoff level 31.65 pg, RET-He showed 81.5% sensitivity and 61.6% specificity. Serum ferritin (r = 0.499, p < 0.0001) and transferrin saturation/ TSAT (r = 0.592, p<0.0001) were correlated to RET-He. Significant improvement in hemoglobin, hematocrit and RET-He were found after intervention (p = 0.023, p = 0.049 and p = 0.019, respectively).Conclusion. RET-He is a useful marker of iron deficiency and early predictor of response to intravenous iron supplementation in regular hemodialysis patients.

Usefulness of Reticulocyte Hemoglobin Equivalent in Management of Regular Hemodialysis Patients with Iron Deficiency Anemia

Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Sumatera Utara University, Indonesia

Romanian Journal of Internal Medicine

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Introduction. Reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent (RET-He) is a new parameter for evaluating iron status. This study aims to assess diagnostic value and...

Usefulness of Reticulocyte Hemoglobin Equivalent in Management of Regular Hemodialysis Patients with Iron Deficiency Anemia

Published Online: Mar 02, 2016

Page range: 31 - 36

Received: Aug 29, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/rjim-2016-0003

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.