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Updated: May 27, 2026

Continuous Manual Exchange Transfusion for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease: An Efficient Method to Avoid Iron Overload
Published on: March 14, 2017
Iron depletion: an ameliorating factor for sickle cell disease?
P C Giordano1, W Huisman, C L Harteveld
1Hemoglobinopathies Laboratory, Department of Human and Clinical Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2300RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
We report some observations from our laboratory practice that might be important for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD). We describe data from two cases indicating that iron depletion might have a beneficial effect diminishing the formation of HbS in favor of HbF, possibly reducing the severity of the disease. We believe that it would be worthwhile to monitor the course of the disease comparing cases with identical genotypes with and without iron depletion, and we advise to consider chelation therapy to reduce iron overload in patients with SCD.
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