Exjade

My son will be 9 this fall.  He has been on desferal since 18mos of age.  We have been very compliant and he does well with desferal.  However, if an oral chelator was an alternative to desferal, needles etc. I would welcome it.  My son is 23kg and healthy otherwise.  Would it be a good idea for us to consider exjade?  Andy, do you have any views on this?

Thanks,

Sharmin

Exjade has been shown to be a good maintenance chelator for keeping iron levels low, especially when the ferritin level is already low when exjade is started. He is probably a good candidate for exjade. If you do decide to start, use the smallest dose when he begins to help minimize the side effects. I don't know if it would be allowed but it would probably be helpful if he continued desferal part time until he reaches the maximum exjade dosage.