Albertine Donker

General Discussion 303 9 GENERAL DISCUSSION In this thesis, we explored several clinical and diagnostic aspects of microcytic anemias due to a genetic disorder of iron metabolism or heme synthesis. We intended to create awareness among clinicians for these rare disorders, and to provide them with information and tools that facilitate distinction from the far more common causes of microcytic anemias as iron deficiency and hemoglobinopathies. This is of great importance because timely diagnosis of these anemias may prevent an unnecessarily long diagnostic process and a not effective or even harmful treatment, thereby reducing the disease burden and avoiding lifelong sequelae of either iron deficiency or iron overload for the individual patient. In this concluding chapter, we review our main findings and reflect upon the implications for clinical practice. We discuss the strengths and limitations of the studies and consider future research challenges with a focus on Iron Refractory Iron Deficiency Anemia (IRIDA).