Suspecting Hyperferritinemic Sepsis in Iron-Deficient Population: Do We Need a Lower Plasma Ferritin Threshold?*

Conclusions: Ferritin rises significantly in septic shock patients despite iron deficiency and seems to correlate with the severity of inflammation and organ dysfunction. Even a lower threshold (of 500 or 1,000 ng/mL) could predict higher mortality. It may suggest the need for redefining the plasma ferritin threshold for suspecting hyperferritinemic sepsis and sepsis-induced macrophage activation syndrome in these patients. Larger studies with frequent ferritin measurements are desirable to validate these initial observations.
Source: Pediatric Critical Care Medicine - Category: Pediatrics Tags: Online Clinical Investigations Source Type: research