Neonatal hemochromatosis
| Neonatal hemochromatosis | |
|---|---|
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | Lua error in Module:Wikidata at line 446: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| OMIM | 231100 |
| DiseasesDB | 34508 |
| Patient UK | Neonatal hemochromatosis |
Neonatal Hemochromatosis is a rare and severe liver disease of unknown origin, though research suggests that it may be alloimmune condition. Its characteristics are similar to hereditary hemochromatosis, where iron deposition causes damage to the liver and other organs and tissues.
Causes
The causes of neonatal hemochromatosis are still unknown, but recent research has led to the hypothesis that it is an alloimmune disease (see alloimmunity). Evidence supporting this hypothesis includes the high recurrence rate within sibships (>80%). This evidence along with other research indicates that neonatal hemochromatosis could be classified as a congenital alloimmune hepatitis.[1]
Treatment
Effective treatment of the disease has been confined to liver transplants. Success has also been reported with an antioxidant chelation cocktail, though its effectiveness cannot be confirmed. Based on the alloimmune cause hypothesis, a new treatment involving high-dose immunoglobulin to pregnant mothers who have had a previous pregnancy with a confirmed neonatal hemochromatosis outcome, has provided very encouraging results.[2]
Related conditions
Neonatal hemochromatosis is also called gestational alloimmune liver disease (GALD). The condition is sometimes confused with juvenile hemochromatosis, which is a hereditary hemochromatosis caused by mutations of a gene called hemojuvelin. While the symptoms and outcomes for these two diseases are similar, the causes appear to be different.
References
External links
- Neonatal Hemochromatosis Information Center (NHIC)
- Gestational treatment to prevent recurrent lethal neonatal hemochromatosis
- Neonatal Hemochromatosis: a family's experience
- Neonatal Hemochromatosis: an inspirational story
- American Hemochromatosis Society
- International Bioiron Society
- Canadian Hemochromatosis Society
- Haemochromatosis page
- "The Bronze Killer" Mary Warder's book on Hemochromatosis
- Iron Toxicity, What you don't know
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. link
- Haemochromatosis Society, UK
- Haemochromatosis Society Australia Inc
- Hemachromatosis page at the National Center for Biotechnology Information
