[Reappearance of pica symptoms during erythropoietin treatment].

Absolute or functional iron deficiency decreases the effectiveness of erythropoietin in patients undergoing hemodialysis. We describe a patient who developed pica associated to a ferritin level of 800 ng/ml during recombinant human erythropoietin treatment. The symptom subsided after supplementation with iron dextran. Therefore we recommend iron supplementation during the initial phase of treatment with erythropoietin until serum ferritin levels raise above 1000 ng/ml.