Abstract
Introduction For the maintenance treatment of patients with hereditary hemochromatosis (HH), it is advised to keep the transferrin saturation (TSAT) <70% to prevent formation of non-transferrin-bound iron and labile plasma iron. The period of the initial iron depletion may last up to 1 year or longer and during this period, the patient is exposed to elevated TSAT levels. Therapeutic erythrocytapheresis (TE) is a modality which has proven to reduce treatment duration of patients with iron overload from HH. In this study, we investigated the time to reach TSAT <70% for both treatment modalities. Methods From a previous randomized controlled trial comparing erythrocytaphereses with phlebotomies (PBMs), we performed an analysis in a subgroup of patients who presented with TSAT >70%. Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to compare the number of treatments and the number of weeks to reach the interim goal of a persistent level of The period to reach TSAT levels of <70% was statistically significant shorter for the TE group compared to the PBM treatment group (median treatment procedures [IQR] 2.0 (5) vs 16.0 (23), P-value: <.001, and median treatment duration [IQR]: 5.5 (11) vs 19.0 (29) weeks, P-value: .007). Conclusion Patients with HH reach a safe TSAT <70% significantly sooner and with less treatment procedures with TE compared to PBM.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 100-105 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of Clinical Apheresis |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 13 Dec 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Feb 2022 |
Keywords
- hereditary hemochromatosis
- phlebotomy
- therapeutic erythrocytapheresis
- transferrin saturation
- LABILE PLASMA IRON
- HFE HEMOCHROMATOSIS
- BOUND IRON
- SERUM
- RISK