Hibbert E J, Fulcher G R, Coyle L, Gates F, Clifton-Bligh P, Stiel D
Department of Endocrinology, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW, Australia.
J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 1999 Feb;14(2):176-8. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1746.1999.01833.x.
A 41-year-old premenopausal woman with newly diagnosed haemochromatosis was found to have osteopenia on screening bone mineral densitometry.
Liver biopsy showed grade 3 haemochromatosis with an hepatic iron index of 4. Investigation for secondary factors for osteopenia revealed no cause. The patient was clinically and biochemically eugonadal. Following venesection of 8 L blood (4 g iron) over 17 months and calcium supplementation, her bone density rose significantly. Neck of femur bone density increased by 6.0% over 13 months and lumbar vertebral bone density increased by 7.2%. There are no previous reports of response of bone density to venesection in eugonadal patients or in women with haemochromatosis.
