A neonate with anaemia of prematurity: zinc protoporphyrin identifies iron deficiency anaemia without iron deficiency

Anaemia is a common problem in premature infants and is generally easy to treat with iron supplementation. If the anaemia persists despite appropriate correction of deficiencies, more extensive evaluation is required. We describe a case of a premature male infant with a production-deficient anaemia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde Vol. 159; p. A8393
Main Authors:	van der Feen, Diederik E, van Hillegersberg, Jacqueline L A M, Schippers, Johannes A
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	Dutch
Published:	Netherlands 2015
Subjects:	Anemia - blood Anemia - diagnosis Anemia, Iron-Deficiency - blood Anemia, Iron-Deficiency - diagnosis Diagnosis, Differential Ferritins - blood Humans Infant, Newborn Infant, Premature Male Protoporphyrins - blood
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Summary:	Anaemia is a common problem in premature infants and is generally easy to treat with iron supplementation. If the anaemia persists despite appropriate correction of deficiencies, more extensive evaluation is required. We describe a case of a premature male infant with a production-deficient anaemia without metabolic deficiencies, eventually identified as anaemia of prematurity. This type of anaemia is commonly diagnosed but its highly variable and complex aetiology and phenotype are often poorly understood. A probable explanation for the anaemia of prematurity in this case was a transient iron incorporation defect, identifiable by high levels of zinc protoporphyrin.
ISSN:	0028-2162 1876-8784