Hemochromatosis surgery

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Shyam Patel [2]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sunny Kumar MD [3]

Overview[edit | edit source]

Surgery does not play role in treatment however liver biopsy is obtained in case of evaluations of diagnosis of few cases of iron over load conditions.

Surgery[edit | edit source]

Early diagnosis is important because the late effects of iron accumulation can be wholly prevented by periodic phlebotomies (by venesection) comparable in volume to blood donations.^[1] Treatment is initiated when ferritin levels reach 300 micrograms per litre (or 200 in nonpregnant premenopausal women).^[2]

Every bag of blood contains 200-250 milligrams of iron. Phlebotomy (or bloodletting) is usually done at a weekly interval until ferritin levels are less than 50 nanograms per millilitre. After that, 1-4 donations per year are usually needed to maintain iron balance.

References[edit | edit source]

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