Cardiac issues

Hi again,

I was wondering if there was a study done yet on exjade vs. deferiprone and/or deferoxamine with regards to the heart.  Does anyone know if exjade is as cadio protective as deferiprone?  What about with regards to the liver?  Thanks.

Also, I thought the article on LVEF was a really good source, especially for people who already have an LVEF lower than 55%.  Does anyone know if exjade can help increase LVEF levels as much as DFO mesylate?  What was the verdict with regards to combination therapy of exjade and DFO, since L1 is not offered in the US.

-David

Studies on the effects of exjade are still in their infancy. When we asked at the Dubai conference about the effect of exjade on the heart, we were given some answer involving guinea pigs and not humans. As far as current research goes, deferiprone (L1) is the definite superior chelator of heart iron. There is also a great lack of information about using exjade and desferal together and it seems this combination is not being widely used at this point in time.

In a recent chest x ray the doc said i have Cardiomegaly (enlarged heart) n since then i am experiencing fast heart beats and a bit fatigue after blood transfusion also. can this cause a problem in future. can someone share their past or present with cardiomegaly......?

HI Sahil,

The heart enlargement may be related to your previous high ferritin levels. Keep up the good work on lowering your ferritin. It takes some time to lower the levels in your organs. It is also possible that it is connected to the transfusions. Researchers are beginning to believe there is a connection as even patients with long histories of low iron have enlarged hearts. More research is being done as this is becoming a more common problem as thals live longer. Good nutrition and exercise can help counter this so please make sure you get some moderate exercise on a regular basis.