This article needs more reliable medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources. (September 2018) |  |
Iron tests are groups of clinical chemistry laboratory blood tests that are used to evaluate body iron stores or the iron level in blood serum.
| Iron tests | |
|---|---|
| Purpose | evaluate iron level |
Other terms used for the same tests are iron panel, iron profile, iron indices, iron status or iron studies.
Tests
edit- Serum iron
- Ferritin
- Transferrin
- Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC)
- Transferrin saturation (Iron saturation of transferrin)
- Unsaturated iron binding capacity (UIBC)
- Transferrin receptor (TfR)
Related tests
edit- Complete blood count (CBC), especially:
- Hemoglobin, EVF or total red blood cells (RBC count)
- Mean corpuscular volume (MCV)
- Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) or MCHC
Diagnosis
edit| IRON PANEL | Serum iron | Transferrin and TIBC | Transferrin saturation | Ferritin | Transferrin receptor | Related tests | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hb | MCV | ||||||
| Iron deficiency anemia | 
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| Iron overload (hemochromatosis) |
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*
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Normal | |
| Anemia of chronic disease |
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*
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*
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| Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) |
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Normal | ||
| Thalassemia |
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| Sideroblastic anemia |
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*
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| Megaloblastic anemia |
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| Hemolytic anemia | *
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*
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*
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*
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| Pregnancy or use of hormonal contraception |
Normal |
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* = or normal.
See also
edit- Reference ranges for blood tests#Ions and trace metals, for reference ranges for tests above