Prevalence of hereditary hemochromatosis in 16031 primary care patients.
Ann Intern Med
; 129(11): 954-61, 1998 Dec 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-9867748
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Despite evidence from screening studies in northern European populations, the prevalence of hemochromatosis in primary care populations in the United States remains speculative.OBJECTIVE:
To establish the feasibility of screening for hemochromatosis and to estimate the prevalence of hemochromatosis in a large primary care population.DESIGN:
Cross-sectional prevalence study.SETTING:
22 primary care practices in the Rochester, New York, area. PATIENTS 16031 ambulatory patients without a previous diagnosis of hemochromatosis. INTERVENTION Serum transferrin saturation screening tests were offered to all adult patients in participating primary care practices. MEASUREMENTS Patients with a serum transferrin saturation of 45% or more on initial testing had a serum transferrin saturation test done under fasting conditions and had serum ferritin levels measured. Those who had a fasting serum transferrin saturation of 55% or more and a serum ferritin level of 200 microg/L or more with no other apparent cause were presumed to have hemochromatosis and were offered liver biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.RESULTS:
25 patients had biopsy-proven hemochromatosis; 22 patients met the clinical criteria for hemochromatosis but declined liver biopsy and were classified as having clinically proven hemochromatosis; and 23 patients had a serum transferrin saturation of 55% or more with no identifiable cause, indicating probable hemochromatosis. The prevalence of clinically proven and biopsy-proven hemochromatosis combined was 4.5 per 1000 (95% CI, 3.3 to 5.8 per 1000) in the total sample and 5.4 per 1000 (CI, 4.0 to 7.1 per 1000) in white persons. The prevalence was higher in men than in women (ratio, 1.81).CONCLUSIONS:
Hemochromatosis is relatively common among white persons. Routine screening of white persons for hemochromatosis should be considered by primary care physicians.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Mass Screening
/
Hemochromatosis
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
/
Screening_studies
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Ann Intern Med
Year:
1998
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States