A prospective randomized controlled trial on the safety and efficacy of alternating deferoxamine and deferiprone in the treatment of iron overload in patients with thalassemia.

We compared the safety and efficacy of alternating deferoxamine and deferiprone with that of deferoxamine monotherapy. Sixty transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients regularly treated with deferoxamine were randomized to continue deferoxamine alone or to receive an alternating therapy for one year. Both arms resulted in equivalent decreases of serum ferritin and liver iron concentration.