Brief Report: Prolonged Intravenous Iron-Dextran Therapy in a Patient with Multiple Hereditary Telangiectasia

Quantitative measurements of blood and iron whole body radioiron loss, total body iron, and iron and erythrocyte kinetics are presented in a patient with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia treated with massive quantities of an iron-dextran complex given intravenously. This iron therapy enabled the patient to maintain a hemoglobin concentration of 6 Gm./100 ml. despite the loss of 600-900 ml. of blood per day. Though considerable hemosiderosis was present at the time of death, no apparent tissue injury was present. The excess iron present constituted a very small fraction of the total iron administered, was only slowly mobilizable for hemoglobin synthesis and, consequently, did not obviate the need for continued administration of fresh dextran iron.