Safety and efficacy of subcutaneous bolus injection of deferoxamine in adult patients with iron overload

Abstract

We compared 48-hour urinary iron excretion after a twice-daily subcutaneous bolus injection of deferoxamine and after 12 hours of subcutaneous continuous infusion of the drug in 27 patients with iron overload (mean age, 55.7 years). In most patients, the iron overload was due to multiple transfusions administered during chemotherapy or as part of supportive care for a hematologic or oncologic disorder. One patient had sickle cell anemia and 1 had hereditary hemochromatosis and spherocytosis. Similar urinary iron excretion was observed with the 2 methods of administration; mean ± SD values were 6935.3 ± 3832.3 μg/48 hours with subcutaneous bolus injection and 6630.4 ± 3606.9 μg/48 hours with subcutaneous continuous infusion (P = .3). Twenty-six patients (96.3%) chose to continue therapy with bolus injection. The long-term efficacy of bolus injection was evaluated by measuring the serum ferritin concentration at regular intervals for a follow-up time of 20.1 ± 4.5 months. Ferritin concentration decreased to below 1000 μg/L in 73% of the patients and to below 500 μg/L in 42% and became normal in 26%. Best results were obtained in patients who were no longer receiving blood transfusions when chelation therapy was initiated. Three of 26 patients (11.5%) had mild, transient side effects after bolus injection. Larger prospective, randomized studies must be conducted before deferoxamine bolus injection can be routinely recommended for patients with iron overload.

Chelation treatment in sickle‐cell‐anaemia: much ado about nothing?

“…Other parameters, including total iron intake, urinary iron excretion or total iron excretion (considering the amount of iron excreted in urine and stool), were expressed differently. Urinary iron excretion (UIE) was reported as the range (Voskaridou et al , 2005) measured after 24 (Collins et al , 1994) or 48 h (Franchini et al , 2000) or as a function of different deferoxamine doses (Silliman et al , 1993).…”

Guidelines for the diagnosis and therapy of adult myelodysplastic syndromes

“…Repeat audiometry and ophthalmology review should be performed at least annually. The use of twice daily subcutaneous bolus injections of desferrioxamine (Franchini et al , 2000) may be considered where infusions are not tolerated, but the common practice of adding a single dose of desferrioxamine at each transfusion episode has no basis and should be discouraged. At present, deferiprone (L1) cannot be recommended for routine use in this group of patients, given the lack of published data in MDS patients and continuing concerns about both efficacy and safety (Pippard & Weatherall, 2000).…”

Iron Overload Disorders: Treatment Options for Patients Refractory to or Intolerant of Phlebotomy

“…17,26 A study compared twice-daily administration of deferoxamine as a subcutaneous bolus injection versus continuous subcutaneous infusion. 27 Urinary iron excretion and ferritin levels were monitored in the 27 study patients. Urinary iron excretion was similar with both methods of deferoxamine administration.…”