TABLE 2.

Diagnostic exclusion criteria for unexplained anemia of aging

Potential cause	Guralnik et al. criteria	Expanded criteria
Diagnosis of anemia	World Health Organization criteria: Men <13 g/dl Women <12 g/dl	men and postmenopausal women <13 g/dl
Iron Status	Ferritin <12 ng/ml Transferrin saturation < 15%	Ferritin <40 ng/ml 67 Transferrin saturation < 15%
B12	< 200 pg/ml	< 200 pg/ml
Folate	red blood cell folate <102.6 ng/ml Home exam: serum folate <2.6 ng/ml	Red blood cell folate <102.6 ng/ml Alternative: serum folate <2.6 ng/ml
Chronic kidney disease	Creatinine clearance <30 ml/m	Creatinine clearance <30 ml/m
Chronic inflammation	Serum iron <60 μg/dl	Diagnosed inflammatory disease and serum iron <60 μg/dl 10
Thyrotropin/TSH		<0.1 mU/ml or >10 mU/ml (except in cases of corrective thyroid therapy without erythroid response)
Other		No history of evidence of hematologic malignancy or myelodysplastic syndrome