Patient-focused outcomes following detection in a hospital-based screening programme for C282Y haemochromatosis
Date
2008
Authors
McCullen, M A
Fletcher, L M
Dimeski, Goce
Pink, A
Powell, L W
Crawford, DH
Hickman, Peter
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Blackwell Science Asia
Abstract
Background: Haemochromatosis is a common genetic disease in populations of a northern European origin. However, there is uncertainty as to whether it is a condition that should be screened for. Aims: To determine the proportion of persons, in a public hospital setting, who were homozygous for the C282Y mutation for hereditary haemochromatosis and the proportion of these persons who would benefit from therapeutic phlebotomy. Methods: All persons who had blood submitted for pathology testing, had total iron-binding capacity and iron measured and transferrin saturation calculated, and where this result exceeded 40%, genotyping for the C282Y mutation was carried out. Results: Of 18 779 patients screened, 887 (5.4%) were found to have transferrin saturation greater than 40%. Thirty-five of these were homozygous for the C282Y mutation. Fourteen were previously known to be affected and six of these were non-compliant with venesection. Venesection was commenced in 5 of the 21 newly diagnosed subjects. Conclusions: The proportion of detected subjects who commenced venesection was significant. Results suggest that clinical penetrance is higher in Australia than other countries and that even in the environment of a large tertiary teaching hospital, phenotypic screening identifies cases of hereditary haemochromatosis, which are likely to benefit from treatment.
Description
Keywords
Keywords: DNA; iron; transferrin; adult; aged; article; atomic absorption spectrometry; clinical article; female; follow up; gene mutation; genetic disorder; genotype; hemochromatosis; histology; human; iron binding capacity; iron overload; laboratory test; liver b Haemochromatosis; HFE; Iron overload; Population screening
Citation
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Source
Internal Medicine Journal
Type
Journal article