This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on Web of Science (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Metabolic Diseases  • Liver/ Biliary Tract/ Pancreatic Diseases  • Genetics  • Genetic Counseling/ Testing/ Therapy  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:269-270.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a common inherited disorder of iron metabolism occurring in approximately 1 in 200 to 250 individuals of northern European descent.¹ This makes HH the most common inherited disorder seen in whites. Most cases of HH are caused by a single mutation in the HFE gene. This results in an increase in iron absorption from the duodenum with increased deposition of iron in the liver, heart, joints, pancreas, and other endocrine organs. Undiagnosed and untreated, progressive iron deposition can cause hepatocellular injury, activation of hepatic stellate cells, and an increase in production of collagen and other components of the extracellular matrix, leading to the development of advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis. The most common causes of death in patients with untreated HH are complications of chronic liver disease and hepatocellular cancer.²

Screening for HH either by phenotypic tests (transferrin saturation or ferritin) or by genetic testing (HFE . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Bruce R. Bacon, MD

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

Screening for Hemochromatosis in Asymptomatic Subjects With or Without a Family History
Lawrie W. Powell, Jeannette L. Dixon, Grant A. Ramm, David M. Purdie, Douglas J. Lincoln, Gregory J. Anderson, V. Nathan Subramaniam, David G. Hewett, Jeffrey W. Searle, Linda M. Fletcher, Darrell H. Crawford, Helen Rodgers, Katrina J. Allen, Juleen A. Cavanaugh, and Mark L. Bassett
Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(3):294-301.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT