3.1. Patients
±, anemia, ferropenic anemia, upper gastrointestinal tract
ANEMIA, FERROPENIC ANEMIA, MALABSORPTION
Thirty patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were initially included in the study: 16 men and 14 women, aged between 38 and 87 years (mean 67.1 ± 13.5). Thirteen patients (43.3%) were below 70 years of age. The main characteristics of the population are described in A total of 10 patients (3 men and 7 women) aged between 42 and 77 years (mean 52.7 ± 11.3) were included in the control group undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with duodenal biopsies to investigate ferropenic anemia and rule out malabsorption. All of them presented normal endoscopic evaluation, and no cause for anemia was detected in the upper gastrointestinal tract.The patient flowchart is described in 