ABSTRACT
All patients with proven biochemical iron deficiency (low ferritin or compatible iron studies) are suitable for referral to the iron deficiency clinic (see Table 4.1). Using these criteria patients do not need to be clinically anemic to undergo further investigation. We believe that this is logical since patients will manifest iron deficiency before anemia. The underlying cause for iron deficiency is likely to be the same in this cohort of patients, although there is no data from clinical studies to support this hypothesis. However, priority is given to patients with anemia-most of the patients seen in the clinic are or have been anemic.
