PLoS ONE (Jan 2021)

Influence of transfusions, hemodialysis and extracorporeal life support on hyperferritinemia in critically ill patients.

  • Cornelia Knaak,
  • Friederike S Schuster,
  • Peter Nyvlt,
  • Patrick Heeren,
  • Claudia Spies,
  • Thomas Schenk,
  • Paul La Rosée,
  • Gritta Janka,
  • Frank M Brunkhorst,
  • Gunnar Lachmann

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254345
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 7
p. e0254345

Abstract

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BackgroundFerritin is the major iron storage protein and an acute phase reactant. Hyperferritinemia is frequently seen in the critically ill where it has been hypothesized that not only underlying conditions but also factors such as transfusions, hemodialysis and extracorporeal life support (ECLS) lead to hyperferritinemia. This study aims to investigate the influence of transfusions, hemodialysis, and ECLS on hyperferritinemia in a multidisciplinary ICU cohort.MethodsThis is a post-hoc analysis of a retrospective observational study including patients aged ≥ 18 years who were admitted to at least one adult ICU between January 2006 and August 2018 with hyperferritinemia ≥ 500 μg/L and of ≥ 14 days between two ICU ferritin measurements. Patients with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) were excluded. To identify the influence of transfusions, hemodialysis, and ECLS on ferritin change, multivariable linear regression analysis with ferritin change between two measurements as dependent variable was performed.ResultsA total of 268 patients was analyzed. Median duration between measurements was 36 days (22-57). Over all patients, ferritin significantly increased between the first and last measurement (p = 0.006). Multivariable linear regression analysis showed no effect of transfusions, hemodialysis, or ECLS on ferritin change. Changes in aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT) and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score were identified as influencing factors on ferritin change [unstandardized regression coefficient (B) = 2.6; (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9, 3.3); p ConclusionsThe present study demonstrates that transfusions, hemodialysis, and ECLS had no influence on ferritin increases in critically ill patients. Hyperferritinemia appears to be less the result of iatrogenic influences in the ICU thereby underscoring its unskewed diagnostic value.Trial registrationThe study was registered with www.ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02854943) on August 1, 2016.