[Value of serum iron in anemia of childhood (author's transl)].

A comparison of the serum iron of 3814 children with anemia is made, in order to show the value of this parameter. 2908 children proved to have a serum iron factor below standard. 2376 of them suffered from anemia caused by lack of iron while 332 others got their anemia caused by infection. For 489 children the anemia resulted in a serum iron above its normal value. Those children suffered from hypoplastic and hemolytic anemias or were children (27) with an iron deficiency which had been treated unknown to the hospital primary to their admission there. 417 children with anemia showed a normal serum iron. By this allocation we succeeded to prove the high diagnostic value of serum iron tests, which nevertheless demand the additional analysis of transferrin and transferrinsaturation together with other specific tests.