The diagnostic role of hyperferritinemia in a tertiary care pediatric rheumatology setting

Results More than 4000 determinations of ferritin requested by the study unit were performed between January 2004 and December 2007 by the central laboratory of the study hospital. Hyperferritinemia was found in 408 determinations in 87 patients. The most common specific diagnoses in patients with hyperferritinemia were the following: systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) (48.3%), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (5.7%), protein intolerance with lysinuria (4.6%), virus-associated haemophagocytic syndrome (3.4%), hematologic disorders (3.4%), juvenile dermatomyositis (2.3%), polyarticular JIA (2.3%), systemic vasculitis (2.3%), autoinflammatory syndrome (2.3%). Twelve patients (13.8%) had a nonspecific systemic inflammatory syndrome. Twenty-seven (31%) of the 87 patients with hyperferritinemia developed features consistent with MAS.