Deferoxamine treatment during pregnancy: Is it harmful?

The use of the iron chelator, Deferoxamine (DFO), in pregnant thalassemia w omen with iron overload has been generally avoided due to fear of its poten tial teratogenicity. We describe a case of a pregnant thalassemia major pat ient with iron overload, who received DFO throughout her second and third t rimesters and gave birth to a healthy infant, who had no findings of DFO to xicity at birth and at a later follow-up. Review of the literature disclose s over 40 other cases in which DFO was given in various periods of gestatio n without evidence of teratogenic effect. Sufficient documentation exists, therefore, to suggest that DFO can be considered for use in cases of pregna nt women who need iron chelation treatment. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.