Long-Term Results of Patients with Hemochromatosis after Bariatric Surgery

Author(s): Romina Frey, Urs Pfefferkorn, Monica La Vista, Rudofsky Gottfried

Hereditary hemochromatosis is one of the most common hereditary metabolic disorders. We present the cases of two patients with hereditary hemochromatosis who were treated with regular phlebotomies and the long-term outcome after bariatric surgery and we provide an overview of the published cases of patients with hemochromatosis who have undergone bariatric surgery. In both patients, the regular phlebotomies before the bariatric operation could be stopped postoperatively without an increase in serum ferritin levels. Bariatric operations are therefore able to control the iron overload in patients with hemochromatosis and eliminate the need for phlebotomies.