According to the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN) there is a new intravenous form of iron that allows rapid administration of large doses for the treatment of anemia in dialysis patients. The new form of iron, ferumoytol, may become an important treatment option for kidney disease patients.
 
Ferumoxytol, administered as two rapid intravenous injections of 510mg each within a week's time, led to significantly greater hemoglobin increases and was well tolerated as compared with oral iron. The study's findings also provide insight into factors that affect greater hemoglobin response to intravenous iron treatment, which makes ferumoxytol a potentially useful treatment option for anemic hemodialysis patients.

This article originally appeared in the February 2009 issue of Renal Flash.