Iron deficiencies: focus on teenage girls

Abstract

T.M. Vasil’eva1,2, I.N. Zakharova1, A.L. Zaplatnikov1,3, N.G. Sugyan1,2, E.V. Shirdanina2, E.A. Doroshina1, L.S. Serikova1, I.D. Maykova3, O.A. Kuznetsova3, A.S. Vorob’eva3, E.R. Radchenko3, L.V. Goncharova3, N.V. Gavelya3 1Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education, Moscow,  Russian Federation 2City Children Outpatient Department No. 133, Moscow, Russian Federation 3Z.A. Bashlyaeva City Children Clinical Hospital, Moscow, Russian Federation Aim: to improve the efficacy of iron deficiency treatment in teenage girls by their early diagnosis and rational treatment. Patients and Methods: complete blood count was performed in 2,303 teenage schoolgirls aged 14–17 years (mean age 16.3±0.6 years) who underwent routine annual medical examination. Whole capillary blood was tested. Reduced hemoglobin concentration (less than 120 g/l) was anemia diagnostic criterion in teenage girls. Hypochromic anemia was verified in color index less than 0.85 and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) less than 26 pg. In some girls (n=133) with verified isolated hypochromic red blood cells but in the lack of anemia and microcytosis, serum iron, total iron-binding capacity, serum ferritin, and transferrin saturation were measured. Results: hypochromic anemia was diagnosed in 8.3% of teenage girls. In 96.8% of them, anemia was mild. In 133 teenage girls with verified hypochromic red blood cells but no anemia, latent iron deficiency was diagnosed in 20.3% of cases. Preliminary results of mild iron-deficiency anemia treatment in 19 teenage girls (mean age 14.7±0.5 years) using Tardyferon demonstrate its good tolerability and high clinical laboratory efficacy. After 4 weeks of the treatment, hemoglobin concentration has increased by 10.7±0.3 g/l (р<0.05). No adverse side effects were reported. Conclusions: our findings demonstrate that the algorithm described in this paper should be followed to improve the diagnosis of iron deficiencies. Keywords: anemia, hypochromic RBCs, teenage, iron deficiencies, iron-deficiency anemia, latent iron deficiency, iron preparations, Tardyferon. For citation: Vasil’eva T.M., Zakharova I.N., Zaplatnikov A.L. et al. Iron deficiencies: focus on teenage girls. Russian Journal of Woman and Child Health. 2019;2(3):206–212.