Perioperative anemia management in colorectal cancer patients: A pragmatic approach

Table 1 Main laboratory tests for the assessment of iron depletion

Laboratory test	Normal values
	Conventional units	Conversion factor2	SI units
Iron status in the body
Serum iron	50-180 g/dL	× 0.179	9-32 mol/L
Transferrin	200-360 mg/dL	× 0.01	2-3.6 g/L
Transferrin saturation	20%-50%
Ft	30-300 ng/mL	× 2.247	65-670 pmol/L
sTfR1	0.76-1.76 mg/L		6.4-25.7 nmol/L
sTfR/log Ft	< 1
Iron deficient red cell production
Hb	12-16 g/dL ♀	× 0.62063	7.5-10 mmol/L
	13-17 g/dL ♂		8-10.5 mmol/L
Mean corpuscular volume	80-100 fL
Red cell distribution width	11-15
Mean corpuscular Hb	28-35 pg
Hypochromic red cells	< 5%
Reticulocyte Hb content	28-35 pg

¹Normal values may differ depending on the assay used;

²To convert the concentrations values in conventional unit into SI units multiply figures by the conversion factor;

³In fact, although widely used, this factor allows for the calculation the molar concentration of hemoglobin subunits. Thus, the molar concentration of hemoglobin (Mw 64 kDa) is 4-fold times lower (2-3 mmol/L). Ft: Ferritin; sTfR: Soluble transferrin receptors; Hb: Hemoglobin; sTfR/log Ft: Ratio of sTfR to serum Ft.