Estimates of the effect on hepatic iron of oral deferiprone compared with subcutaneous desferrioxamine for treatment of iron overload in thalassemia major: a systematic review

Table 1 Characteristics of the 11 studies containing information on hepatic iron concentrations in patients with thalassemia major

First Author	Year of Publication	Study^† Design	Mean Study Duration (months)	Number of Patients	Mean Age (years)	Treatment	Abstract alone	Individual Patient Data available
Hoffbrand AV	1979	Clinical trial	13*	31	16*	DFO		X
Janka GE	1981	Case series	13*	5	7	DFO		X
Aldouri MA	1987	Case series	96	51	19	DFO		X
Maurer HS	1988	Clinical trial	72*	16	10*	DFO		X
Olivieri NF	1995	Clinical trial	37	21	22	L1		X
Olivieri NF	1997	RCT	33	37	NA	L1 vs DFO	X
Longo F	1998	Clinical trial	24	52	17	L1	X
Mazza P	1998	Clinical trial	22	29	NA	L1		X
Olivieri NF	1998	Case series	55	18	18*	L1		X
Tondury P	1998	Case series	86	11	23	L1		X
Diav-Citrin O^#	1999	Case series	51*	19	24	L1

* In cases where the mean was not provided, either the median or the midpoint of the range was used as an approximation. ^† Studies were classified as "clinical trials" if there was evidence of the use of a formal study protocol, and if ethics committee approval and informed consent were obtained. ^# Although this study has been withdrawn from the scientific literature as of April 22, 2002, it was decided not to exclude this study from the analysis as it has been relied upon in the literature. DFO Desferrioxamine; L1: deferiprone; NA: not available

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