Effect of venesection on bone mineral density in an eugonadal woman with haemochromatosis
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A 41-year-old premenopausal woman with newly diagnosed haemochromatosis was found to have osteopenia on screening bone mineral densitometry.
METHODS AND RESULTS: Liver biopsy showed grade 3 haemochromatosis with an hepatic iron index of 4. Investigation for secondary factors for osteopenia revealed no cause. The patient was clinically and biochemically eugonadal. Following venesection of 8 L blood (4 g iron) over 17 months and calcium supplementation, her bone density rose significantly. Neck of femur bone density increased by 6.0% over 13 months and lumbar vertebral bone density increased by 7.2%. There are no previous reports of response of bone density to venesection in eugonadal patients or in women with haemochromatosis.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a case report, done in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Development of a crushable foam model for human trabecular bone
- Data-driven motion compensation in HR-pQCT.
- Modeling of structure, quality, and function in the orthodontic patient
- Exploring the mechanism of Heidihuang Pill in the treatment of osteoporosis based on network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental validation
- Effect of fabric on the accuracy of computed tomography-based finite element analyses of the vertebra
- Use of interventions involving virtual reality tasks during the climacteric: a systematic review
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.