Which of the following is the most appropriate drug used for chelation therapy in beta thalassemia major?
Deferiprone is a recently introduced orally active iron chelator which has simplified the treatment of transfusion siderosis in thalassemia patients. Oral desferrioxamine is poorly absorbed when given orally so not preferred in the oral route. Oral Deferiprone is a less effective alternative to injected desferrioxamine. Deferiprone has also been indicated for acute Iron poisoning & for iron load in liver cirrhosis. Ref: Essentials of Medical Pharmacology By KD Tripathi, 5th Edition, Pages 813-5
Oral desferoxamine
Oral deferiprone
Intramuscular EDTA
Oral Succimerq