Serum ferritin is an independent factor in coronary artery stenosis among hemodialysis patients

Hemodialysis patients frequently receive intravenous iron for the treatment of anemia. Iron status has been found to be correlated with coronary artery disease. In the post hoc study reported here, we evaluate the association between iron status and coronary arterial stenosis (CAS) in a 3-year follow-up period. We enrolled 76 patients and collected iron status, and clinical/biochemical data over 3 years. In this study, coronary arterial stenosis was considered significant when the narrowing of the coronary artery exceeded 50 % of the luminal diameter on coronary angiography. The mean age was 61 years old. The female/male ratio was 48/28, and the group included 16 diabetic patients and 23 smokers. Twenty-two of 76 patients had CAS. Mean intravenous iron dosage was 2167.11 ± 1738.38 in a 3-year period. On the univariate regression analysis, 3-year-averaged serum ferritin was positively associated with CAS (r = 0.288, P = 0.012). The 3-year-averaged intravenous iron dosage, DM, age, smoking, and other biochemical parameters showed no association with CAS. When these factors were added to the multivariate-adjusted models, 3-year-averaged serum ferritin remained a determinant of CAS event (β = 0.290, P = 0.029). The odds ratio for CAS was 6.93 (95 % CI 2.41–19.94; P = 0.001) for patients with 3-year-averaged serum ferritin ≥600 ng/mL. In summary, serum ferritin was an independent risk factor for CAS among this group of hemodialysis patients, especially when serum ferritin was ≥600 ng/mL.