Not all anemia is solely due to iron deficiency

Heinrich and Loop (1) recently commented our study on the ultra-short term combination treatment of anemia and iron deficiency in patients undergoing cardiac surgery (2). They discussed whether such treatment might be an option in lung cancer surgery and came to the conclusion that the optimal approach in lung cancer surgery would be to treat preoperative anemia (without specifying by which means) and to administer intravenous iron in patients with a higher risk of severe postoperative anemia such as following neo-adjuvant chemotherapy or pneumonectomy.