Salvaging the heart

From: doe (ironjustice_at_aol.comdoe)
Date: 08/28/04 

Date: 28 Aug 2004 14:45:20 GMT

<<snip>>
documented ability to salvage these patients
<<snip>>

Br J Haematol. 2004 Jun;125(5):545-51. Related Articles, Links

  
Purging iron from the heart.

Hershko C, Cappellini MD, Galanello R, Piga A, Tognoni G, Masera G.

Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem and Ben Gurion University
Faculty of Medicine, Beer Sheva, Israel. hershko@szmc.org.il

Methods are now available to measure the magnitude of iron accumulation in the
heart. Their validation currently relies on indirect evidence and not on
chemical estimation in cardiac biopsies. All patients with symptomatic heart
disease appear to have abnormal T2* values, but many patients without
symptomatic heart disease also have evidence of increased myocardial iron.
Although there is no proof to date that increased myocardial iron, as evidenced
by abnormal magnetic resonance imaging, carries an adverse prognosis, it is
likely that such new information will affect the chelating programme of
patients. In these cases, there are a number of options available: (i) ongoing
treatment with either desferrioxamine (DFO) or deferiprone may be intensified;
(ii) the patient may be switched to the alternative chelator or (iii) combined
chelation with both DFO and deferiprone may be started, which is more effective
than using either chelator alone. For patients with symptomatic heart disease,
continuous intravenous DFO with, or without deferiprone, remains the currently
recommended treatment, in view of its documented ability to salvage these
patients.

Publication Types:
Review
Review, Tutorial

PMID: 15147368 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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