Figure 1.

Treatment experience varies among patients all receiving 1500 mg iron sucrose over 3 months. Each panel represents a single patient. Dialysis sessions received are indicated by an × across the bottom of each panel, where a cluster of three ×s indicates a week. Intravenous iron received is indicated by a blue bar, with the height of the bar indicating the dose administered during the session. Despite having received the same amount of total iron over a 3-month period, these six patients differed in (1) treatment experiences (i.e., different dose and frequency of iron treatment), (2) clinical characteristics (e.g., infection episodes indicated by the use of intravenous antibiotics), and (3) health care system encounters (e.g., hospitalizations). For example, patient 4 received a mix of high-dose therapy (100 mg per session) and low-dose therapy (50 mg/wk) throughout the entire period, whereas patient 5 received only high-dose therapy (100 mg per session) within a shorter period of time.