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Sidney F. Miller, MD; Robert K. Finley, Jr, MD; Michele A. Morath, MS, RD
Miami Valley Hospital Dayton, Ohio

JAMA. 1981;246(1):39.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor:—

We would like to comment briefly on the article by Eriksson and Douglass (1980; 243:2049). Our findings are in agreement with their general conclusion that transferrin is useful as an indicator of nutritional status and that it has prognostic value. Unfortunately, their investigation is predicated on an assumption that, if wrong, challenges the validity and clinical applicability of their results.

The method used in their study for determining transferrin (serum transferrin=0.8 total iron-binding capacity [TIBC]—43) is a widely propagated formula.^1-3 It has become a commonly accepted conversion owing to the fact that actual serum transferrin quantification requires equipment not yet routinely available. We respectfully wish to question this calculation.

In our preliminary investigation, 93 studies were carried out in 33 burn patients. Actual serum transferrin measurements were determined by radial immunodiffusion. Transferrin was also derived in the same group of patients by determining the serum TIBC . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Edited by John D. Archer, MD, Senior Editor.

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