Intravenous iron administration: new observations and time for the next steps.

In this issue of Kidney International, the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study reports that hemodialysis patients with monthly intravenous iron supplementation of 300-399 mg or ⩾400 mg had a 13 or 18% higher risk of dying, respectively, compared with those receiving 100-199 mg per month, with no obvious differences in cause-specific mortalities. This study supports that randomized controlled trials are urgently needed to identify optimized iron supplementation strategies for anemic dialysis patients.