Skip to main content

Table 1 Studies describing iron metabolism in intensive care unit (ICU) patients

From: Bench-to-bedside review: Iron metabolism in critically ill patients

Study

Time of measurement

Iron (μmol/l)

Ferritin (μg/l)

Transferrin saturation (%)

Transferrin (g/l)

Reference value with inflammation [8, 10]

 

< 9

30–200

10–20

< 3

Surgical ICU patients [18]

Week 1

4.1

652

12.8

1.7

 

Week 2

4.1

1234

11.9

1.5

 

Week 3

4.6

1536

13.4

1.4

 

Week 4

6.9

1367

18.7

1.4

Medical ICU patients ≥ 4 days [3]

Days 1–2

4.8a

471a,b

16a

1.4a,c

 

Days 6–8

6.0a

767a,b

15a

1.3a,c

 

Days 13–15

6.5a

795a,b

22a

1.3a,c

 

Days 20–25

8.1a

774a,b

24a

1.4a,c

 

Days 31–40

7.8a

723a,b

20a

1.5a,c

Medical and surgical ICU patients [19]

Days 2–3

4.9d

727b

16

Not reported

General ICU patients [21]

     

   Functional iron deficiency

Day 1

Not reported

342

Not reported

Not reported

   No functional iron deficiency

Day 1

Not reported

292

Not reported

Not reported

Multiple mechanical trauma patients [20]

Day 1

9.5

832

Not reported

1.7c

 

Day 2

3.9

547

Not reported

1.7c

 

Day 4

3.4

466

Not reported

1.5c

 

Day 6

4.0

530

Not reported

1.6c

 

Day 9

5.0

842

Not reported

1.6c

  1. Data presented as mean values, except a median values. b Ferritin (ng/ml or μg/ml). c Transferrin (mg/dl) multiplied by 0.01 to convert to transferrin (g/l). d Iron (μg/dl) multiplied by 0.1791 to convert to iron (μmol/l).