Description of the Etiologies, Clinical Characteristics, and Outcomes in Patients with Hyperferritinemia in a Colombian Tertiary Hospital.

Background: This study analyzes the clinical characteristics, outcomes, and conditions associated with hyperferritinemia (≥5000 ng/mL) in a high-complexity center in Colombia.

Methods: This retrospective and descriptive study was performed between 2011 and 2020, at the Fundación Valle del Lili, Cali, Colombia, by reviewing medical charts from patients who had serum ferritin measurements equal to or greater than 5000 ng/mL.

Results: We found 350 reports of ferritin values ≥5000 ng/mL, corresponding to 317 patients, with a median ferritin value of 8789 (6001-15 373)  ng/mL. The most frequent etiologies were infection (n = 198, 56.57%), hematologic disorders (n = 104, 29.71%), and blood transfusion (n = 98, 28.00%). These last 2 etiologies cooccurred in 37 (10.57%) cases. The main clinical signs accompanying hyperferritinemia were fever in 199 (56.86%) cases, multiorgan involvement in 125 (35.71%), and hepatomegaly in 95 (27.14%) cases. Ninety-four (29.65%) patients died in the hospital, and 11 (3.47%) died within 30 days after medical discharge, mainly due to infection (n = 51, 48.57%). Intrahospital mortality was associated with significantly higher ferritin levels (10 846, IQR: 6425-23 459) than survival (8452, IQR: 5980-13 932) (P = 0.018).

Conclusions: Hyperferritinemia is related to many underlying causes, with infection being the principal cause in our cohort, followed by hematologic disorders. Additionally, in-hospital mortality was related to higher ferritin levels.