Croatian Hematology Society and CROHEM guidelines for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is an important public health problem. Almost 30% of the world’s population (> 2 billion) has iron deficiency (ID) with or without anemia. Treatment of IDA requires teamwork. It is important to treat anemia and the underlying cause of anemia. Functional iron deficiency (FID ) is a state with insufficient iron absorption and incorporation into erythroid precursors, whereas iron stores (ferritin) are normal or increased. FID is associated with anemia of chronic disease (ACD), chronic kidney disease, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic heart failure and malignant diseases. Oral and parenteral iron preparations can be used for the treatment of IDA. Novel iron parenteral preparations allow rapid normalization of total body iron even with a single infusion, with high effectiveness and safety.