Eisenmangel-Check -- Iron Deficiency Panel

Targeted iron deficiency investigation combining ferritin, a small blood count, and CRP (inflammation marker). Differentiates true iron deficiency from the false-normal ferritin values seen during concurrent infection or inflammation. At EUR 45.80 under GOAe 1.0x rates -- an efficient, focused workup for the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide.

This panel addresses iron-deficiency anaemia with a clinically intelligent three-marker approach. Rather than simply measuring ferritin alone, it pairs the primary iron storage marker with a complete blood count and CRP to enable accurate interpretation even in the presence of concurrent inflammatory conditions. Ferritin is the most diagnostically reliable marker of iron stores. A ferritin below 15 ng/mL is virtually diagnostic of iron deficiency. However, ferritin is also an acute-phase protein that rises during infection, inflammation, obesity, liver disease, and malignancy. In these settings, a patient can have functionally empty iron stores but a normal or even elevated ferritin. The CRP inclusion solves this interpretive problem: if CRP is elevated, a higher ferritin cutoff (below 30-100 ng/mL depending on CRP level) is used to identify functional iron deficiency. European guidelines specifically recommend concurrent CRP measurement when ferritin is used for iron status assessment. The small blood count (kleines Blutbild) provides haemoglobin concentration (which defines anaemia: below 12 g/dL in women, below 13 g/dL in men), MCV (mean corpuscular volume -- low in iron deficiency, creating the characteristic microcytic picture), and MCH (mean corpuscular haemoglobin -- low in iron deficiency, producing hypochromic cells). The RDW (red cell distribution width) is elevated in iron deficiency as new microcytic cells mix with older normocytic cells, creating a mixed population. Importantly, ferritin depletion precedes anaemia by weeks to months. A low ferritin with normal haemoglobin indicates iron depletion without frank anaemia -- a state associated with fatigue, reduced exercise tolerance, impaired thermoregulation, hair loss, and decreased cognitive performance. This pre-anaemic stage responds well to oral iron supplementation. Iron deficiency disproportionately affects women of reproductive age (menstrual blood loss), vegetarians and vegans (non-haem iron has lower bioavailability), endurance athletes (footstrike haemolysis, GI bleeding, sweat losses), and frequent blood donors. The EUR 45.80 price point makes this panel accessible for routine screening in these at-risk groups.