Patients who are chronically dependent on transfusions will develop iron overload that leads to organ damage and eventually to death. For nearly 30 years, patients with transfusional iron overload have been subject to overnight deferoxamine infusions for iron chelation. Despite dramatic gains in terms of life expectancy in the deferoxamine era for patients with transfusion-dependent anemias, 50% of patients with thalassemia major die before the age of 35 years, predominantly due to iron-induced heart failure. The very demanding nature of this treatment with prolonged subcutaneous infusion via portable pump infusions has been the motivation for attempts to develop alternative forms of treatment that would facilitate the patients' compliance. Strategies to reduce iron overload and its consequences by improving chelation regimens have been of the highest priority in the last years.In this review, the most important advances in iron-chelating therapy are described, particularly the analysis of the two orally active iron chelators: deferiprone and the novel oral chelator deferasirox.
Iron overload; iron chelation; deferrioxamine; deferiprone; deferasirox
