Table 1.

Excerpt of a passage from the 2015 JSDT Guidelines for renal anemia in chronic kidney disease (evidence level in parentheses) [17]

Chapter 4: Evaluation of iron status and iron therapy

CQ3: What are the criteria for the initiation and discontinuation of iron therapy?

Statement 3-1

(1) For patients who are not treated with ESAs or iron and cannot maintain target hemoglobin levels, we suggest iron therapy prior to ESA therapy if the serum ferritin level is <50 ng/mL. (2D)

(2) For patients who are treated with ESAs and cannot maintain the target hemoglobin level, we recommend iron therapy if the serum ferritin level is <100 ng/mL and TSAT is <20%. (1B)

Statement 3-2

(3) For patients who are treated with ESAs and cannot maintain target hemoglobin levels, we suggest iron therapy if both the following conditions are satisfied: (2C)

Absence of disease that decreases iron utilization rate

Serum ferritin level <100 ng/mL or TSAT <20%

(4) We do not recommend iron administration that targets the serum ferritin levels to rise to ≥300 ng/mL. (2D)