Iron absorption in patients with beta-thalassaemia/haemoglobin E disease and the effect of splenectomy.

Intestinal 59Fe absorption was measured in 16 patients with beta-thalassaemia/haemoglobin E disease and in 5 normal controls, using a total-body counting technique. The average iron absorption in the patients was 62% in contrast to 16.5% in the normal controls. 6 of the 9 splenectomized patients had absorption values above 65%, while only 2 of the 7 nonsplenectomized patients had comparably high values.