Safety of Intensive Chelation Therapy

Abstract

To the Editor: Propper, Shurin and Nathan¹ have reported that continuous intravenous administration of desferrioxamine results in very efficient removal of iron. Others have made similar observations.^{2 , 3} Recent use of a portable infusion pump has made continuous administration practical by the subcutaneous route. When oral ascorbic acid is given simultaneously,^{1 2 3 4} up to 100 mg of iron per day may be excreted. The observations have brought expanded use of these drugs, particularly for patients who already have clinical manifestations of iron overload. Unfortunately, seven deaths have recently occurred among patients who received desferrioxamine and ascorbic acid. A meeting was held . . .