American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation
-
We tested the hypothesis that a high concentration of serum ferritin, a frequently used marker of iron stores in dialysis patients and an acute-phase reactant, may be a marker of morbidity and mortality in these patients. To evaluate the impact of ferritin on morbidity and mortality, we reviewed the 6-month hospitalization rates in our dialysis patients retrospectively and subsequently reviewed the mortality among these patients over a 12-month period of time prospectively. One hundred one adult hemodialysis patients (59 men and 42 women; age, 54 +/- 15 years) who had been on hemodialysis for 38 +/- 27 months were studied. ⋯ Hence, serum ferritin is a strong predictor of hospitalization in dialysis patients. Although serum albumin is found to be a strong long-term marker of mortality in hemodialysis patients, an increase in serum ferritin appears to be a more reliable short-term marker of death over a 12-month period. Therefore, in the setting of uniform iron administration, a high serum ferritin may be a morbidity risk factor and a recent increase in serum ferritin may carry an increase in the risk of death in these patients.