Prevalence of hemochromatosis in a random sample of asymptomatic men

The prevalence of hemochromatosis was studied in 343 randomly selected male World War II veterans aged 58 years and older. Those men with a serum ferritin level of greater than 700 micrograms/l or a transferrin saturation of greater than 55% underwent liver biopsy. Hepatic iron concentration was assessed histochemically and by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Histology was assessed blindly by one histopathologist. Of 21 veterans biopsied, four men had hemochromatosis, confirmed by venesection response, and the remaining biopsies all showed some histological abnormality. All four men with hemochromatosis had a transferrin saturation of greater than 55% while only three of the four had a serum ferritin level over 700 micrograms/l. The prevalence of hemochromatosis detected in this sample was 1.2%, which is higher than that suggested by overseas studies.