Apomyelinotic Lesions and Superficial Siderosis Following Chronic Fe Treatment in Patients with Anaemia and Diabetes.

Apomyelinotic Lesions and Superficial Siderosis Following Chronic Fe Treatment in Patients with Anaemia and Diabetes.

Background: Superficial Siderosis (SS) is currently diagnosed more frequently due to the application of MRI, which gives evidence for many obscure diagnostic issues. In this study we tend to investigate the effect of chronic Fe therapy in patients with anaemia and diabetes.

Methods: We examined a male patient, 56 years old, suffered from severe anaemia and diabetes with very low ferritin levels. So, a two-year period intravenous Fe treatment was necessary. He was submitted to neurological, neurophysiological and radiological examinations. We recorded, estimated and compared the results between them.

Results: The MRI of brain exhibited pathological lesions of ischaemic type of the periventricular white matter, along with signs of superficial siderosis.

Conclusions: According to our results, in case of prolonged intravenous Fe therapy in patients suffering from anaemia, we should be watchful for SS. This element could be determinant for the progress of patient’s therapy. Also, MRI examination seems to be a very useful diagnostic tool for these cases.

The 2nd World Congress on Gender-Specific medicine and aging: The Endocrine Impact (item 39)

Paper was presented at the GERIATRIEKONGRESS,  9-12 May 2007 (page 22 of the presentation)