Development of lens opacities with peculiar characteristics in patients affected by thalassemia major on chelating treatment with deferasirox (ICL670) at the Pediatric Clinic in Monza, Italy.

Introduction About the 11-14% of patients with thalassemia major (TM) treated with deferasirox (DFO) develops retinopathy and/or lens opacities with an unclear pathogenesis but with a clear age related pattern. Possible causes can be either iron overload itself or DFO toxicity, with various mechanisms. No ocular side effects related to L1 are described. During the core study referring to one year treatment with ICL670, cataract or lens opacities were reported as drug-related adverse events in 0.3% patients on ICL670 versus 1.4% patients on DFO. We report the appearance of peculiar lens opacities in 3 out of 12 patients during treatment with ICL670.