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What Causes Breathing Difficulty After Taking IV Iron Infusion?
Question: I had received iron infusions due to a ferritin level of 5. My hemoglobin ranges 11-13. After receiving infusions I developed a delayed shortness of breath. My doctor had me stop the infusions and see a pulmonologist because he said that in very rare cases the iron infusions could cause pulmonary fibrosis. I had PFTs done and my DLCO was low but the chest CT did not show any signs of fibrosis and the shortness of breath seemed to have mostly resolve so they started me on a small dose iron infusion. Later that evening I began having shortness of breath again and it continued. This has been going on for a long time and I have seen multiple specialists, but my question to you is...
Can iron infusions cause some kind of pulmonary injury?
My doctors are unsure of what is causing the low DLCO and they are wondering if the iron could be related because I had no problems with breathing prior to iron infusions.
Can iron infusions cause some kind of pulmonary injury?
My doctors are unsure of what is causing the low DLCO and they are wondering if the iron could be related because I had no problems with breathing prior to iron infusions.
Brief Answer:
Iron may cause airway narrowing during infusion
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.
Iron infusions can cause airway narrowing during infusion and result in breathing trouble. But usually these are short lived and resolve completely after stopping the infusion. May require some anti allergic medicines or steroids.
But permanent worsening of dlco would be very unlikely. Same for lung fibrosis, though the CT doesn't show any.
Sometimes the cause of low dlco can't be found out. But because of the temporal relationship, I would suggest avoiding iron infusions and if required, you may take oral iron.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Iron may cause airway narrowing during infusion
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.
Iron infusions can cause airway narrowing during infusion and result in breathing trouble. But usually these are short lived and resolve completely after stopping the infusion. May require some anti allergic medicines or steroids.
But permanent worsening of dlco would be very unlikely. Same for lung fibrosis, though the CT doesn't show any.
Sometimes the cause of low dlco can't be found out. But because of the temporal relationship, I would suggest avoiding iron infusions and if required, you may take oral iron.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Nagamani Ng
Why and how does it cause airway narrowing?
Brief Answer:
some allergic mechanism
Detailed Answer:
Exact mechanism is not known. The two main possibilities are immunological IgE-mediated (allergic) responses, for example, to the dextran component of IV iron preparations containing iron, and complement activation-related pseudo-allergy.
some allergic mechanism
Detailed Answer:
Exact mechanism is not known. The two main possibilities are immunological IgE-mediated (allergic) responses, for example, to the dextran component of IV iron preparations containing iron, and complement activation-related pseudo-allergy.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Nagamani Ng
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