Clinical
Indications |
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Iron
is normally stored in the body as ferritin, a small fraction
of which circulates in blood. The concentration of serum
ferritin is directly related to tissue stores and levels vary
depending on age and sex. Ferritin is generally more accurate
than iron and TIBC (transferrin) for the assessment of iron
status. Unfortunately, serum ferritin is
raised in acute and chronic disorders such as liver disease,
inflammation or malignancy which limits its use as a
diagnostic test for iron deficiency. Serum ferritin is
increased in patients with haemochromatosis.
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Request Form |
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Combined Pathology Blood form
(Yellow/Black)
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Availability |
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On
request. Repeat requests should not be within one month.
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Specific
Criteria |
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Assessment
of iron status in suspected iron deficiency anaemia.
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Turnaround
Time |
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Same Day (Monday to Friday)
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Specimen |
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Serum
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Volume |
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1 ml
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Container |
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Yellow top (SST) tube
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Collection |
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No specific collection conditions.
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Causes for
Rejection |
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Unlabelled sample.
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Reference
Range |
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Adult
female:10 - 300 µg/L; following the menopause, levels
progressively approach those for adult males. Adult male: 20 -
300 µg/L.
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Interpretation |
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Decreased levels indicate iron
deficiency. Levels of up to 100 µg/L may be found in patients
with iron deficiency when this co-exists with inflammation,
liver disease or malignancy (acute phase response) as these
disorders increase ferritin above basal levels. Increased levels occur with iron overload (haemochromatosis
and haemosiderosis) but transferrin
saturation is a better screening test for these disorders. See interpretation
of results of iron studies.
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