Chelation use and iron burden in North American and British thalassemia patients: a report from the Thalassemia Longitudinal Cohort.

ABSTRACT: Morbidity and mortality in thalassemia are associated with iron burden. Recent advances in organ-specific iron imaging and the availability of oral deferasirox are expected to improve clinical care, but the extent of use of these resources and current chelation practices have not been well described. In the present study, we studied chelation use and the change in iron measurements in 327 subjects with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (mean entry age, 22.1 ± 2.5 years) from 2002-2011, with a mean follow-up of 8.0 years (range, 4.4-9.0 years). The predominant chelator currently used is deferasirox, followed by deferoxamine and then combination therapies. The use of both hepatic and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging increased more than 5-fold (P < .001) during the study period, leading to

SUBMITTER: Kwiatkowski JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3327453 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature