Abstract
Long-term observations of the clinical course of a female patient who developed secondary hemochromatosis following blood transfusions are reported. The patient is a 44-yr-old woman who was transfused with a large amount of blood (ca. 100 liters) and given a series of radiation therapy over both ovaria at the age of 26-yr-old because of epistaxis and massive genital hemorrhage due to aplastic anemia. A few years later she began to have jornt pain in her fingers. Ten years later a diagnosis of chronic hepatitis with hemosiderosis was made. Development into hemochromatosis was documented by serial biopsies and liver scintigrams. Diabetes mellitus appeared 13 years later and then became resistant to insulin. She died in gastrointestinal bleeding. Histologic examination of the joints revealed hemochromatosis arthropathy. It is thought that these typical hemochromatotic findings were caused by viral hepatitis and iron overload following blood transfusions and amenorrhea due to radiation therapy.
