Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics & Gynecology (CEOG) is published by IMR Press from Volume 47 Issue 1 (2020). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with S.O.G.
Red blood cell zinc protoporphyrin measurement for assessment of peripartum iron deficiency
Objective: To study the effectiveness of the rapid red blood cell zinc protorphyrin (RBC-ZPP) test for the detection of women with iron-deficiency anemia in the peripartum period. Design: Blood was drawn prospectively from 150 healthy parturient women upon admission to the labor and delivery room and 72 hours after delivery. Concentration of RBC-ZPP was measured and correlated with hemoglobin level (p = 0.001), mean corpuscular volume (p = 0.002), hematocrit (p = 0.0001), platelet count (p = 0.002), and serum iron (p = 0.0001), serum ferritin (p = 0.0001) and serum transferrin (p = 0.0001) concentrations. Results: RBC-ZPP concentration showed a significant increase from pre-delivery to 72 hours post-delivery. This change correlated significantly with the changes in all the other parameters studied. Conclusion: The RBC-ZPP test is a reliable, rapid, easy-to-perform, and inexpensive method of screening low-risk women, after uneventful vaginal delivery, for iron deficiency.