Liver iron concentration is not raised in patients with dysmetabolic hyperferritinemia

Abstract

Background & aims. Hyperferritinemia (HF) is frequently present in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS). MS associated with HF is named dysmetabolic hyperferritinemia (DH). There are some publications that propose that DH is associated with a raised liver iron concentration (LIC). We studied the LIC in patients referred for HF to a secondary hospital to determine if there are differences between patients with or without MS.Material and methods. We conducted a prospective study of 132 consecutive patients with HF from January to December 2010. The MS was defined by the International Diabetes Federation criteria (2005). LIC was determined by Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Results. The number of patients for which there was enough data to determine MS was 97, out of which 54 had MS and 43 had no MS (NMS). In 54/97 patients, MRI for LIC determination was performed. From the MS group, 44 were men (27 underwent MRI) and 10 women (9 MRI). The mean LIC was 27.83 ± 20.90 μmol/g for the MS group. In the NMS group, 36 were men (13 MRI), and 7 women (5 MRI). In 18 patients from the NMS group, LIC was determined by MRI. The mean LIC was 33.16 ± 19.61 μmol/g in the NMS group. We compared the mean values of LIC from both groups (MS vs. NMS) and no significant differences were found (p = 0.067).Conclusion. Patients with DH present a mean LIC within normal values and their values do not differ from those of patients with HF but without MS.

Keywords

• Ferritin
• Metabolic syndrome
• Iron overload
• Liver iron concentration
• MRI