Clinical trial of desferrioxamine entrapped in red cell ghosts

Ten patients with excess body iron stores of different levels and with different diagnoses were given desferrioxamine inside osmotically lysed and resealed red blood cells (red cell ghosts). Red cell ghost entrapped desferrioxamine was given intravenously and, ten days later, an equal dose of desferrioxamine was administered via slow subcutaneous infusion over 10 h. Differences were apparent for these single dose challenges with respect to the pattern of urine iron excretion and the efficiency of iron chelation. The red cell ghost method consistently improved the efficiency of chelation, especially in patients with modestly increased body iron stores. This method of treatment may therefore prove to be of particular value in the patient with early siderosis who is embarking on a programme of regular transfusion for refractory anaemia.