Low hemoglobin density as a measure of iron status.

Iron deficiency anemia is the commonest cause of anemia in the developing countries. Iron status is the result of the balance between the rate of erythropoiesis and the amount of iron stored in the body. Various biochemical parameters have been used to assess iron status such as iron levels, transferrin, transferrin saturation and ferritin, and all of them may be influenced by acute phase response and are also expensive tests 1-4. In our situation where patients cannot afford exhaustive tests to document iron deficiency we utilized the LHD values as a predictor of iron status based on the formula provided by Urrechaga 5.