Diagnosing iron deficiency in cyanotic heart disease.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of iron deficiency in children with CCHD by noninvasive, inexpensive and easy laboratory methods. METHODS: Forty four children with cyanotic congenital heart disease (CCHD), aged 6 to 48 months were included in this study. The patients were categorized as iron deficient (n:28) and iron sufficient group (n:16). Children with CCHD who had iron deficiency were treated with iron for 3 months. RESULT: Iron sufficient patients were followed during 3 months without giving iron preparation. Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), red cell distribution width (RDW), serum iron (SI), total iron binding capacity (TIBC) and serum ferritin levels were measured in all patients at the beginning and at the end of the study. CONCLUSION: In children with CCHD, hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct) and red blood cell (RBC) counts were not considered significant parameters in the diagnosis of iron deficiency. Determination of MCV, MCH, RDW values is relatively easy and inexpensive method requiring small amount of blood for the diagnosis of iron deficiency during the follow-up of patients with CCHD.

Acute iron ingestion.

OBJECTIVE: Intoxication is one of the most common causes of admissions to emergency department in pediatric age group. Incidence of iron poisoning gradually increased because of wide spread use of iron containing drugs. METHOD: In this report, we present five cases of iron ingestion who were admitted to our emergency department within a year. RESULT: Whole bowel irrigation in addition to gastric lavage with an iron dose of over 50 mg/kg as well as deferoxamine treatment for patients in whom clinical and laboratory indications are present. CONCLUSION: The prompt recognition and treatment of children with acute iron poisoning is the single and the most critical point for decreasing the morbidity and mortality associated with iron containing products.