Erythropoietin therapy in pre-dialysis patients with chronic renal failure: lack of need for parenteral iron.

Background: During erythropoietin therapy, scant information exists regarding the optimal target percent saturation of transferrin (TSAT), ferritin and the mode and amount of iron supplementation in pre-dialysis patients with anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Hypothesis: Pre-dialysis CKD patients may have different needs for iron supplementation than end-stage renal disease subjects during erythropoietin therapy.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of pre-dialysis CKD subjects (n = 31) treated with erythropoietin at our institution.