Prevalence of Iron deficiency anemia in children with liver cirrhosis: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND Among the many complications reported for cirrhosis, iron deficiency anemia (IDA) has attracted much attention. This type of anemia, in contrast to other types of anemia, is easy to treat prophylactically, but if left untreated can lead to a poor quality of life. The aim of this study was to estimate the hemoglobin and serum iron levels among patients with liver cirrhosis for the early diagnosis of IDA and to avoid unnecessary testing and iron supplementation. SUBJECTS AND METHODS In this cross-sectional study, 88 children diagnosed with cirrhosis were included, and the values of hemoglobin, serum iron levels and relationship between serum iron (SI), total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), prothrombine time (PT), international normalization ratio (INR), total and direct bilirubin and hepatic enzymes were estimated using paired t test, Mann-Whitney, Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests. RESULTS Forty-six (52.3%) of 88 children were girls and 42 (47.7%) were boys. Forty-eight (54.5%) patients had anemia and 8 (9%) had iron deficiency anemia (5 boys, 5.6%, and 3 girls, 3.4%). No relationships were observed between iron deficiency anemia and the patient's age or gender, whereas there was a relationship between iron deficiency and severity and duration of the disease, although the correlation was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION The high frequency of iron deficiency anemia in children with cirrhosis (9%) suggests that timely screening should be used for early diagnosis and treatment.