Iron deficiency anaemia — viva

Opening (must-hit)

"This is a microcytic hypochromic anaemia with a low ferritin and a normal CRP — iron deficiency anaemia, uncomplicated by inflammation. For his age the WHO threshold is below 110 g per litre, so 74 is markedly low. The cause is written into the history: excessive cow's milk at 900 mL per day, early introduction, and the pagophagia is a specific clue to iron deficiency. He is haemodynamically stable, so my plan is oral elemental iron at 3 to 6 mg per kg per day once daily or on alternate days for at least three months, combined with cutting the cow's milk below 500 mL per day and introducing iron-rich solids. I would expect reticulocytes to rise by day 7 to 10 and the haemoglobin by about 10 g per litre per week, and I would recheck at four weeks." ^[3][5]