Background: Iron metabolism disorder is commonly seen in patients with sepsis. This study aimed to evaluate whether continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) improved the iron metabolism disorders in sepsis. Methods: In a single-center, retrospective cohort study, totally 89 sepsis patients were prospectively enrolled and divided into the CVVH group (n=39) and the control group (n=50). Clinical and laboratory data were collected and compared between the groups on days 1, 3 and 7 of ICU

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... ion. Plasma interleukin (IL)-6, hepcidin, erythropoietin (EPO), ferritin and soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Sequential organ failure scores (SOFA) on days 1 and 7, and 28-day survival between groups were compared.Results: Plasma IL-6, hepcidin, ferritin and RDW on days 3 and 7 were significantly reduced in the CVVH group compared with those in the control group (all P<0.05). The CVVH group had a significantly lower SOFA score on day 7 compared with the control group (P<0.05). Hemoglobin and EPO were gradually decreased within the first week of ICU admission in both groups although no significant differences between the groups were observed. There was no significant difference in sTfR between the two groups along with the time (all P > 0.05). In addition, there were no significant differences in 28-day survival rate and median survival time between the two groups. Conclusion: CVVH improves iron metabolism disorders and the disease severity in sepsis. However, it does not alleviate anemia and fails to improve the survival.