Cho ME, et al. - Using data from the Veterans Affairs Corporate Data Warehouse, researchers assessed the link between iron status and mortality in pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) cohort with at least one set of iron indices. On the basis of the joint quartiles of serum transferrin saturation (percent) and ferritin concentration (ng/ml), four iron groups were defined: reference (16-28%, 55-205 ng/ml), low iron (0.4-16%, 0.4-55 ng/ml), high iron (28-99.6%, 205-4941 ng/ml), and function iron deficiency (0.8-16%, 109-2783 ng/ml). Adjusted relative rate (95% confidence interval) for all-cause mortality was higher in three abnormal iron groups vs the reference during a mean follow-up of 4.0 years. For each iron group, a similar risk of death was seen between diabetic and non-diabetic subgroups. Overall, findings revealed an association of an abnormal iron balance, especially functional iron deficiency, with increased mortality in CKD.