High-dose systemic iron chelation attenuates reperfusion injury.

Introduction This discussion will focus on two areas. The first will deal with the release and movement of iron from intracellular storage sites to the vascular compartment following an ischaemic episode. The conditions necessary for this release and the question of whether the quantities of iron involved are relevant to clinical situations occurring in acute-care medicine will also be addressed. The second area of discussion will focus on a number of preclinical studies involving the use of deferoxamine or a highmolecular mass analogue of deferoxamine in the treatment of a reversible myocardial dysfunction induced by short-term regional ischaemia. The critical role of ‘free’ iron in catalysing reactions leading to the formation of oxygenand lipid-derived reactive species has been reviewed extensively by several authors [ 1,2] and will not be discussed here.