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HFE Genotype in Patients with Hemochromatosis and Other Liver Diseases
- Bruce R. Bacon, MD;
- Robert S. Britton, PhD; and
- John K. Olynyk, MD
- Saint Louis University School of Medicine; St. Louis, MO 63110-0250 (Bacon) Saint Louis University School of Medicine; St. Louis, MO 63110-0250 (Britton) Freemantle Hospital; Freemantle 6160 WA, Australia (Olynyk)
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IN RESPONSE:
We thank Dr. McLaren for his thoughtful comments about our paper, which clearly described the value of HFE genotyping in patients with liver disease and possible iron overload. We agree with Dr. McLaren that the accompanying editorial by Franks and Burke (1) did not address the issue that we had described—that is, how to differentiate patients with hemochromatosis from those with liver disease and secondary iron overload or those with liver disease and abnormal serum iron measures. We believe our data clearly show the utility of HFE genetic testing in all patients with liver disease who have abnormal iron metabolism measures in order to characterize whether they have HFE mutations that are associated with hemochromatosis. Again, we agree with McLaren that our proposed algorithm should be tested in a larger series of patients, and we have made no comments about the utility of this algorithm in population-based screening. We hope the readers of our article will understand the significance of our findings in terms of evaluating patients with liver disease, a point that obviously was missed in the accompanying editorial.
Bruce R. Bacon, MD
Saint Louis University School of Medicine; St. Louis, MO 63110-0250
Robert S. Britton, PhD
Saint Louis University School of Medicine; St. Louis, MO 63110-0250
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
- Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians
