Hypocupremia has been observed occasionally in patients with severe microcytic hypochromic anemia due to iron deficiency,1-5but as a rule the serum copper is increased in iron deficiency.1,6It was, therefore, of interest when Sturgeon and Brubaker7; Ulstrom, Smith and Heimlich,8and Lahey9described a syndrome characterized by hypocupremia, hypoferremia, hypoproteinemia, edema, and hypochromic microcytic anemia in a total of 19 infants and children. Sturgeon and Brubaker7treated one of their patients with copper and noted a prompt increase in serum copper but no increase in hemoglobin, reticulocytes, or serum proteins. Lahey9made a similar observation in two of his patients. In addition, Lahey observed that the administration of iron alone was followed by a prompt reticulocystosis, alleviation of anemia, and an increase in serum proteins but no increase in serum copper. The diets of the patients studied by Sturgeon and Brubaker and