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Patients with hereditary hemochromatosis reach safe range of transferrin saturation sooner with erythrocytaphereses than with phlebotomies
Author(s) -
RomboutSestrienkova Eva,
Brandts Lloyd,
Koek Ger H.,
Deursen Cees Th. B. M
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of clinical apheresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.697
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1098-1101
pISSN - 0733-2459
DOI - 10.1002/jca.21956
Subject(s) - medicine , transferrin saturation , phlebotomy , gastroenterology , hereditary hemochromatosis , hemochromatosis , surgery , iron deficiency , anemia
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 <70% for TSAT between TE and PBM. Results 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.