This is a well conducted, adequately powered study in oral iron intolerant patients looking at quality of life parameters, especially the FACIT-anemia scale for fatigue. Not only was IV iron superior to placebo across multiple different diagnoses associated with iron deficiency, in fewer than four weeks the majority of subjects approached baseline. In a follow-up of this trial presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology annual meeting in New Orleans, Vadhan-Raj et al.reported that 69% of the subjects were still at the achieved level for fatigue improvement, while 31% had received another infusion of ferumoxytol. The real ramification of these reports will be felt if/when FDA approves ferumoxytol as a 1020 mg 15-minute infusion. This will truly reset the paradigm for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia.
– Michael Auerbach