NOTES

Question the person to determine if they requires venesection and/or has complications of hemochromatosis, e.g. cardiac, liver, joint or endocrine. The maximum age for accepting a donor with HH to donate is 69 years (i.e up to but not including the 70th birthday). The donor must have had at least one therapeutic venesection without any complications

ACCEPT:

     1. Donors who have never needed therapeutic venesection

• All donors diagnosed with HH (e.g. via family screening or a health check) that have no complications of Haemochromatosis i.e. have not developed iron overload and have never required venesection: Suitable for Phlebotomy type Z only
• All donors who have inherited TWO HH genes (which could be the same or different HH genes i.e. homozygous HH or compound heterozygous HH) but do not have any complications of Haemochromatosis i.e. have not developed iron overload and have never required venesection: Suitable for Phlebotomy type Z only
• Donors who have inherited only ONE HH gene. Are carriers of HH and do not have HH. These donors rarely develop iron overload. Suitable for phlebotomy type W

     2. Donors who have needed therapeutic venesection/s

• All donors with a diagnosis of HH (e.g. via family screening or a health check) will be accepted to donate/or have therapeutic venesection on any whole blood clinic provided:
  • They have had at least 1 therapeutic venesection, and this was without any complication/s
  • They are on maintenance therapy, i.e. they have undergone iron depletion treatment (initial de-ironing) and require no more than 8 venesections per year
  • They have an annual medical with their GP/Consultant that includes a ferritin check. The ferritin level should generally not be more than 300 ng/ml for females and 400 ng/ml in males prior to donation
  • They have not had a venesection in the last two weeks. NB: Phlebotomy type Z only to be used for donation
  • They fulfill all other criteria for donation as per IBTS/MED/GDE/0001,IBTS/MED/GDE/0007 and are not permanently excluded, with the exception that if they are taxi drivers, they can accepted while on duty at their first venesection / blood donation in the IBTS, if they have been venesected in the past, without any complications

If a donor with HH, who requires a therapeutic venesection, is temporarily deferred they will be bled into a dry pack for discard when he/she attends the clinic, provided that they are able to tolerate a venesection and does not have an acute illness such as a flu or acute chest infection NB: Phlebotomy type J only to be used

• If they have active joint complications of haemochromatosis 

PERMANENTLY EXCLUDE:

• If the person has complications of Haemochromatosis other than joint complications, e.g. cardiac complications such as arrhythmias, or hepatic complications e.g. cirrhosis or a hepatoma, or insulin dependent diabetes mellitus

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The IBTS does not currently carry out ferritin testing on donors who have HH, other than those who attend the Stillorgan clinic on Fridays. The responsibility for monitoring the donor’s ferritin levels and carrying out screening test such as liver ultrasound examinations is that of the donor’s primary physician or consultant responsible for monitoring his HH.  Currently donor with HH cannot donate any more frequently at IBTS donor clinics (other than Stillorgan) than the standard every 90 days. They can donate up to 4 times a year with the IBTS and 4 times with their primary team