ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Iron deficiency anemia is the most common form of anemia in pediatric age. It affects 20.1% of children aged 0-4 years old and 5.9% of children aged 5-14 years old in the Western World with profound implications for the growth. Dietary changes and iron supplementation may be crucial. This study aims to assess the correlation between growth and iron deficiency in children and the effects of ferrous iron treatment on the auxological parameters.

Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective, monocenter, longitudinal study at our Pediatric Unit, from 2010 to 2023. Demographic and clinical data were gathered, including sex, race, chronological age, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), ideal weight by height, blood count parameters, specifically values of erythrocytes (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and serum iron, ferritin, transferrin, and total iron binding capacity. The continuous variables and the ordinary ones were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD) and percentage, respectively. Fisher’s test or the Pearson Chi-squared test for qualitative variables and the paired t-test for continuous variables were performed. The patients were treated with ferrous iron for one year, with a first evaluation at the first outpatient visit (T0) and a second evaluation at one year (T1).

Results: 30 Caucasian pediatric subjects (aged 1-16 years old, 73% female) affected by iron deficiency anemia were included in the final analysis. The auxological evaluation at the baseline (T0) was the following: weight 43.7 ± 21.1, height 142.2 ± 30.2, BMI 20.0 ± 4.0, ideal weight by height 111.1 ± 24.4. Laboratory exams showed the following mean values: RBC count 4811241.3 ± 544652.2, Hb 9.8 ± 1.7, MCV 64.0 ± 10.5, serum iron 25.1 ± 18.5, ferritin 6.3 ± 7.2, transferrin 370.9 ± 39.4, total iron binding capacity 4.0 ± 3.7. The analysis of data collected documented a mean difference between T0 and T1 for weight of 2.2 ± 3.0 SD and for height of 1.6 ± 4.1 SD, with a statistically significant increase of Hb levels (P.003), ferritin levels (P.011), weight (P.012) and height (P.000) at T1, suggesting that treatment with ferrous iron may improve the growth in this population of pediatric subjects.

Conclusions: Iron deficiency anemia may be suspected among the causes of growth delay in children. Our data demonstrate the improvement of the auxological parameters following ferrous iron therapy.