[The new paradigm of neonatal hemochromatosis: fetal alloimmune hepatitis]

Arch Argent Pediatr. 2012 May-Jun;110(3):237-43. doi: 10.5546/aap.2012.237.
[Article in Spanish]

Abstract

The classical model of neonatal hemochromatosis was based on the analogy with hereditary hemochromatosis. Medical treatment consisted on the antioxidant-chelator cocktail. The new hypothesis of an alloimmune origin of the process by which the pregnant woman mounts an IgG-based destructive response against fetal hepatocytes offers a pathogenic explanation, allowing treatment to be focused on the immunological aspects, with excellent results, and opens the possibility of preventive treatment in future pregnancies. This new paradigm produces a deep impact in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of the disease, that should be called "fetal alloimmune hepatitis".

Publication types

  • English Abstract
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Fetal Diseases / immunology
  • Hemochromatosis / diagnosis
  • Hemochromatosis / drug therapy
  • Hemochromatosis / etiology
  • Hemochromatosis / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn

Supplementary concepts

  • Neonatal hemochromatosis