How do you approach diagnosing a patient with Iron Refractory Iron Deficiency Anemia (IRIDA)?

Iron-Refractory Iron Deficiency Anemia should be suspected when there is a lack of response to oral iron and only a partial response to intravenous iron. One should make sure there is not a chronic underlying inflammatory process to explain the lack of iron absorption or lack of the expected response to intravenous iron. One should also make sure there is not a genetic condition causing microcytosis, such as beta-thalassemia trait, alpha-thalassemia, or a hereditary sideroblastic anemia. If one ...