Intravenous infusion of total dose iron is superior to oral iron in treatment of anemia in peritoneal dialysis patients: a single center comparative study.

In the treatment of anemia of chronic renal failure, the most common cause of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) resistance is iron deficiency. In peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, oral iron therapy is an accepted and convenient method of iron supplementation. The effectiveness of oral iron, however, is limited by many factors, including gastrointestinal side effects and poor gastric absorption. This study prospectively compared the efficacy of single intravenous infusion of total dose iron (ITDI group) given in an outpatient setting with oral iron (oral group) for the treatment of anemia in PD patients. Twenty-five adult stable PD patients with baseline hematocrit 25 to 35% were entered into the study. Thirteen patients with serum transferrin saturation (TSAT) < 25% received ITDI, and 12 patients with TSAT between 25 and 35% received oral iron. One patient in the oral group received emergent blood transfusion and was excluded from analysis. Hematocrit and iron indices were measured at monthly intervals. Doses of rhEPO were adjusted monthly to maintain target hematocrit at 35%. At the end of the study (6 mo), despite similar baseline mean hematocrit (31.0 +/- 0.9 versus 33.0 +/- 1.0%), comparable mean baseline weekly rhEPO dose (7886 +/- 1449 versus 6370 +/- 1553 U/wk), and significantly lower level of mean TSAT (11.3 +/- 3.5 versus 30.1 +/- 3.5%; P < 0.05), the ITDI group when compared with the oral group had significantly higher mean hematocrit (36.0 +/- 1.0 versus 31.4 +/- 1.1%; P < 0.05) and TSAT (33.7 +/- 3.7 versus 22.6 +/- 4.0%; P < 0.05) values. In addition, the final mean dose of weekly rhEPO was significantly lower in the ITDI group (4799 +/- 981 versus 9998 +/- 1027 U/wk; P < 0.05). No patient in the ITDI group developed an adverse reaction to intravenous iron. It is concluded that ITDI represents a more efficacious method of iron supplementation in PD patients receiving rhEPO. Moreover, ITDI is safe and well tolerated and can be administered in an outpatient setting.