Presence and Characterisation of Anaemia in Diabetic Foot Ulceration

Table 1

Initial DFU patients indices and iron studies: functional and absolute iron deficiency.

Indices and  iron studies	Nonanaemic patients with functional iron deficiency		Anaemic patients with absolute iron deficiency*		Anaemic patients with abnormal indices and iron studies**
	Median values	Range	Value	Range	Median values	Range
Haemoglobin g/dL	12.2	12.0–16.5	11.2	—	11.1	7. 0–11.5
MCV fL	91.6	87.1–95.2	72.4	—	93.0	61.6–122.5
MCH pg	29.3	27.0–32.9	21.1	—	29.6	18.6–37.8
RDW %	13.7	12.3–14.5	15.9	—	14.6	13.6–18.7
Ferritin ug/L	131.0	70.0–983.0	13.0	—	125.0	24.0–744.0
Transferrin saturation %	24.0	22.0–49.0	15.1	—	19.0	13.0–45.0
Iron umol/L	12.5	9.0–24.0	8.0	—	12.0	5.0–45.0
Reticulocytes %	1.6	0.5–1.5	0.6	—	1.20	0.6–10.0

Anaemia defined as Hb < 12.0 g/dL. Initial visit patient values presented only. *Only one anaemic patient initially had a text book absolute iron deficiency; hence these data are presented without range. **The remaining thirteen anaemic patients had abnormal iron indices and studies (iron < 30 umol/L, MCH < 24 pg, MCV < 78 fL, RDW < 12%, TSATS < 20%, ferritin < 30 ug/L or >300 ug/L). Normal hospital laboratory reference ranges: MCV fL 80–99; MCH 27.0–33.5; RDW 11.5–15.0; ferritin 300–400 ug/L; transferrin saturation 20–50%; iron 10.6–28.3 umol/L; reticulocytes 0.38–2.64%.