Evolution of untreated hereditary hemochromatosis in the Busselton population: a 17-year study.

Objective: To describe the evolution of biochemical and clinical features during a 17-year period in untreated subjects homozygous for the C282Y mutation in the hemochromatosis gene.

Subjects And Methods: In 1998, 12 subjects from Busselton, Australia, were newly diagnosed as being homozygous for the C282Y mutation. We determined transferrin saturation and ferritin values and retrieved clinical information from the 1981, 1994, and 1998 population surveys for 10 of these subjects.