Restoration of Hematopoiesis After Iron Chelation Therapy With Deferasirox in 2 Children With Severe Aplastic Anemia

Iron overload is a significant clinical problem in patients with severe aplastic anemia or other transfusion-dependent bone marrow failure diseases. Iron chelation therapy is more readily available owing to the recent introduction of oral iron chelators. We describe 2 cases of children with severe aplastic anemia and related transfusional iron overload who received iron chelation therapy with oral deferasirox. Our patients experienced restoration of trilineage hematopoiesis after the administration of deferasirox along with the reduction in ferritin levels, and subsequently became transfusion-free. Our report raises the possibility of potential benefit on hematopoiesis from iron chelation therapy and warrants furthermore investigations.