The Study of Menstrual and Other Blood Loss,and Consequent Iron Deficiency,by Fe59 Whole-body Counting

A recently established method of in vivo radioiron investigation in humans, employing a steel-room whole-body counter, has been applied to the study of Fe⁵⁹ absorption and loss in seven menstruating women, six with menorrhagia and hypochromic anemia. All six were found by this method to be iron-deficient, having radioiron absorptions of 53.7-97.5% (normal 5.7-24.7%). With almost 100% radioiron incorporation into the red-cell mass, subsequent drops in Fe⁵⁹ activity, when correlated with monthly menses, revealed estimated menstrual blood losses of 110-550 c.c. The single normal patient absorbed 19.6% of the tracer, with only 33-59 c.c. menstrual blood loss. Additional applications of the technique in assessing episodic (e.g., epistaxis) and continuous (e.g., gastrointestinal) blood loss are also described. The method would appear eminently applicable to the study of any hypochromic anemia of hemorrhagic origin.