Towards a Common Definition for the Diagnosis of Iron Deficiency in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases
Abstract
Iron deficiency (ID) in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases is frequent. However, under-diagnosis is also frequent due to the heterogeneity between guidelines from different medical societies. We applied a common definition for the diagnosis of ID to a large panel of patients with cancer, heart failure (HF), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and chronic kidney disease (CKD), where ID was defined as serum ferritin concentration <100 μg/L and/or a transferrin saturation (TSAT) index <20%. Prevalence estimates using this common definition were compared with that obtained with officially accepted definitions (ESMO 2018, ESC 2016, ECCO 2015, and ERBP 2013). For that purpose, we used data collected during the French CARENFER studies, which included 1232, 1733, 1090, and 1245 patients with cancer, HF, IBD, and CKD, respectively. When applying the common definition, ID prevalence increased to 58.1% (vs. 57.9%), 62.8% (49.6%), and 61.2% (23.7%) in cancer, HF, and IBD patients, respectively. Both prevalence estimates were similar (47.1%) in CKD patients. Based on our results, we recommend combining both ferritin concentration and TSAT index to define ID in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. In those patients, adopting this common definition of ID should contribute to a better screening for ID, whatever the condition.
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BibTeX
@article{cacoub2026towards,
title = {{Towards a Common Definition for the Diagnosis of Iron Deficiency in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases}},
author = {Patrice Cacoub and Gabriel Choukroun and Alain Cohen-Solal and Elisabeth Luporsi and Laurent Peyrin‐biroulet and Katell Peoc'H and Valérie Andrieu and Sigismond Lasocki and Hervé Puy and Jean-Noël Trochu},
journal = {Nutrients},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3390/nu14051039},
url = {https://hal.univ-lorraine.fr/hal-04168064v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Towards a Common Definition for the Diagnosis of Iron Deficiency in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases
AU - Patrice Cacoub
AU - Gabriel Choukroun
AU - Alain Cohen-Solal
AU - Elisabeth Luporsi
AU - Laurent Peyrin‐biroulet
AU - Katell Peoc'H
AU - Valérie Andrieu
AU - Sigismond Lasocki
AU - Hervé Puy
AU - Jean-Noël Trochu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/09
JO - Nutrients
DO - 10.3390/nu14051039
UR - https://hal.univ-lorraine.fr/hal-04168064v1
AB - Iron deficiency (ID) in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases is frequent. However, under-diagnosis is also frequent due to the heterogeneity between guidelines from different medical societies. We applied a common definition for the diagnosis of ID to a large panel of patients with cancer, heart failure (HF), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and chronic kidney disease (CKD), where ID was defined as serum ferritin concentration <100 μg/L and/or a transferrin saturation (TSAT) index <20%. Prevalence estimates using this common definition were compared with that obtained with officially accepted definitions (ESMO 2018, ESC 2016, ECCO 2015, and ERBP 2013). For that purpose, we used data collected during the French CARENFER studies, which included 1232, 1733, 1090, and 1245 patients with cancer, HF, IBD, and CKD, respectively. When applying the common definition, ID prevalence increased to 58.1% (vs. 57.9%), 62.8% (49.6%), and 61.2% (23.7%) in cancer, HF, and IBD patients, respectively. Both prevalence estimates were similar (47.1%) in CKD patients. Based on our results, we recommend combining both ferritin concentration and TSAT index to define ID in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. In those patients, adopting this common definition of ID should contribute to a better screening for ID, whatever the condition.
SN - 2072-6643
ER -