3.4 Predictive value of serum ferritin and number of red cell transfusions for abnormal LIC
A serum ferritin exceeding 500 ng/ml had a sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 79% to predict an elevated LIC. Serum ferritin exceeding 1000 ng/ml uniformly predicted elevated LIC in all the patients (specificity: 100%); however, the sensitivity dropped to 25%. A cut-off of 8 units of red cells predicted an elevated LIC with a sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 49.8%.