Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2018 Oct;8(4):e332-e334.
doi: 10.1055/s-0038-1675335. Epub 2018 Nov 20.

Heterogeneous Presentation of Neonatal Hemochromatosis in Dichorionic Twins

Affiliations
Case Reports

Heterogeneous Presentation of Neonatal Hemochromatosis in Dichorionic Twins

Yee Yuet Chee et al. AJP Rep. 2018 Oct.

Abstract

Acute liver failure (ALF) in neonates is rare. Although the incidence is reported to be rare, neonatal hemochromatosis (NH) has to be considered as one of the causes of neonatal ALF. We present a pair of dichorionic twin who had a diverse clinical presentation of NH. One twin passed away despite medical treatment with exchange transfusion and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), whereas the other twin suffered from only mildly deranged liver function, which normalized spontaneously. Early identification of liver failure and clinical awareness of this disease entity are essential to its timely diagnosis and treatment. Antenatal management using IVIg prevents the recurrence of NH in subsequent pregnancies.

Keywords: gestational alloimmune liver disease; liver failure; neonatal hemochromatosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest All contributing authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Liver biopsy showing hepatocellular siderosis (left) and abnormal iron deposition in salivary gland (right), demonstrating iron in blue by Perl's stain.

References

    1. Whitington PF. Gestational alloimmune liver disease and neonatal hemochromatosis. Semin Liver Dis. 2012;32(04):325–332. - PubMed
    1. Heissat S, Collardeau-Frachon S, Baruteau J et al.Neonatal hemochromatosis: diagnostic work-up based on a series of 56 cases of fetal death and neonatal liver failure. J Pediatr. 2015;166(01):66–73. - PubMed
    1. Lopriore E, Mearin ML, Oepkes D, Devlieger R, Whitington PF. Neonatal hemochromatosis: management, outcome, and prevention. Prenat Diagn. 2013;33(13):1221–1225. - PubMed
    1. Rand EB, Karpen SJ, Kelly S et al.Treatment of neonatal hemochromatosis with exchange transfusion and intravenous immunoglobulin. J Pediatr. 2009;155(04):566–571. - PubMed
    1. Whitington PF, Hibbard JU.High-dose immunoglobulin during pregnancy for recurrent neonatal haemochromatosis Lancet 2004364(9446):1690–1698. - PubMed

Publication types