Partial Manual Exchange Reduces Iron Accumulation During Chronic Red Cell Transfusions for Sickle Cell Disease

Iron overload is an inevitable consequence of chronic red cell transfusions without erythrocytapheresis or chelation therapy. The effectiveness of partial manual exchange, a technique used to slow iron loading, has not been evaluated. We evaluated all children with sickle cell disease (SCD) receiving chronic transfusion to identify chelation naïve subjects who had quantitative liver iron concentration (LIC) studies. Seventeen chelation naïve children with SCD received a median of 29 transfusions prior to first LIC determination. Serum ferritin concentrations were assessed prior to each transfusion. The mean volume of blood phlebotomized prior to each transfusion was 5.1±1.8 cc/kg, which cumulatively resulted in a calculated median 35.0 mg/kg removal of iron. Using linear regression, pretransfusion phlebotomy resulted in a statistically significant reduction in ferritin (-8.8 ng/mL of ferritin for each mg/kg of iron phlebotomized, P = 0.02). A reduction in LIC from pretransfusion phlebotomy could not be established (P =0.4). Partial manual exchanges appear to be an effective strategy for slowing the pace of iron loading in the setting of chronic transfusion for SCD.