Analysis index

1 ml serum

1 ml plasma (Stability at 4°C – 8°C: 7 days)

0,5 ml CSF (Stability at 4°C: 7 days)

Serum/plasma:

Men: 22 µg/l – 275 µg/l

Women: 5 µg/l – 204 µg/l

Children: Please refer to findings report

CSF:

< 10 ng/ml; grey area at 10 – 15 ng/ml, i.e. in case of artificial blood contamination, cell destruction

Serum: Differential diagnosis of anemia, diagnosis of iron deficiency, regular checks of oral iron substitution, monitoring of risk groups, tumors, iron overload

CSF: Proof of/ruling out of CNS-bleeds, especially older or smaller subarachnoid bleeding; prognosis in case of herpes simplex encephalitis (hemorrhagic necrotizing form)

The ferritin circulating in the blood, correlates with the storage iron content of the reticulo-histiocytic system and therefore informs of the reserve iron concentration of the organism, provided that no ferritin from parenchymal cells, such as the liver, is released nor serum ferritin synthesis or catabolism is disturbed. In these situations, the evaluation of the soluble transferrin-receptor in the serum may be helpful. Therapeutically, an iron substitution is recommended in ferritin levels of < 20 µg/l, as iron storage is exhausted.

Please also refer to section “Iron deficiency” (Indications directory)

Ferritin is also synthesized in the CNS. An evaluation of CSF/Serum-quotient does not make sense as over 98 % of the ferritin in the CSF come from the CNS.