Testing equivalence of two doses of intravenous iron to treat iron deficiency in pregnancy: A randomised controlled trial

Date

2023

Authors

Froessler, B.
Schubert, K.O.
Palm, P.
Church, R.
Aboustate, N.
Kelly, T.
Dekker, G.A.
Hodyl, N.A.

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BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 2023; 130(1):15-23

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Abstract

Objective: To test the equivalence of two doses of intravenous iron (ferric carboxymaltose) in pregnancy. Design: Parallel, two-arm equivalence randomised controlled trial with an equivalence margin of 5%. Setting: Single centre in Australia. Population: 278 pregnant women with iron deficiency. Methods: Participants received either 500 mg (n = 152) or 1000 mg (n = 126) of intravenous ferric carboxymaltose in the second or third trimester. Main outcome measures: The proportion of participants requiring additional intravenous iron (500 mg) to achieve and maintain ferritin >30 microg/L (diagnostic threshold for iron deficiency) at 4 weeks post-infusion, and at 6 weeks, and 3-, 6- and 12-months postpartum. Secondary endpoints included repeat infusion rate, iron status, birth and safety outcomes. Results: The two doses were not equivalent within a 5% margin at any time point. At 4 weeks post infusion, 26/73 (36%) participants required a repeat infusion in the 500-mg group compared with 5/67 (8%) in the 1000-mg group: difference in proportions, 0.283 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.177–0.389). Overall, participants in the 500-mg arm received twice the repeat infusion rate (0.81 [SD = 0.824] versus 0.40 [SD = 0.69], rate ratio 2.05, 95% CI 1.45–2.91). Conclusions: Administration of 1000 mg ferric carboxymaltose in pregnancy maintains iron stores and reduces the need for repeat infusions. A 500- mg dose requires ongoing monitoring to ensure adequate iron stores are reached and sustained.

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Copyright 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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