Iron Overload in Blood Donors with Hemochromatosis
نویسندگان
چکیده
Volume 41, January 2001 TRANSFUSION 123 Hemochromatosis occurs in approximately 1 in 200 white persons of Western European descent, and it increases the propensity to absorb excess iron. Iron overload associated with hemochromatosis can cause hepatic cirrhosis, primary liver cancer, arthropathy, diabetes mellitus, other endocrinopathic disorders, and a reduction in lifespan.1,2 These complications of iron overload can be avoided by early diagnosis and appropriate management.1,2 Because blood loss is the most effective way to reduce body iron stores, the preferred treatment for iron overload associated with hemochromatosis is therapeutic phlebotomy.1,2 Accordingly, it is also believed that persons with hemochromatosis who were volunteer blood donors before diagnosis may have less severe iron overload than those who were not donors, and therefore the former may have a reduced risk of developing complications of iron overload. Further, the identification of apparently healthy persons with hemochromatosis among blood donors in the United States,3 Australia,4 and Western Europe5,6 would appear to support this belief. However, persons diagnosed with hemochromatosis in the course of routine medical care delivery often have symptoms and organ dysfunction associated with complications of iron overload,1,7 and yet many have been blood donors.8,9 Taken together, these observations indicate that there is a need to define the relationship between volSeverity of iron overload in hemochromatosis: effect of volunteer blood donation before diagnosis
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