High doses of deferiprone may be associated with cerebellar syndrome

[...]this drug has shown great ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, and five patients treated with the usual dose for six months developed subclinical impairments of hearing and vision. 1 2 In our cases, the high dose may have had a direct toxic effect, or it might have caused excessive loss of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBMJ Vol. 338; no. jan22 1; p. a2319
Main Authors Beau-Salinas, F, Guitteny, M A, Donadieu, J, Jonville-Bera, A P, Autret-Leca, E
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England BMJ Publishing Group LTD 22.01.2009
Subjects
beta-Thalassemia - drug therapy
Cerebellar Diseases - chemically induced
Child
Drug dosages
Female
Humans
Iron Chelating Agents - administration & dosage
Iron Chelating Agents - adverse effects
Iron Overload - drug therapy
Male
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Pyridones - administration & dosage
Pyridones - adverse effects
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Summary:[...]this drug has shown great ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, and five patients treated with the usual dose for six months developed subclinical impairments of hearing and vision. 1 2 In our cases, the high dose may have had a direct toxic effect, or it might have caused excessive loss of other metals chelated by deferiprone (copper, zinc, aluminium, gallium) that are potentially important co-factors for enzyme activity. 3 These cases have led to the inclusion of neurological side effects in deferiprone's summary of product characteristics, and confirm that doses greater than 100 mg/kg/day should not be used.
ISSN:0959-8138
1468-5833
1756-1833
DOI:10.1136/bmj.a2319