Deferoxamine Intradermal Delivery Patch
David Perrault, MD, Dharshan Sivaraj, BS, Arhana Chattopadhyay MD, Kellen Chen, PhD, Geoffrey Gurtner, MD, Subhro Sen, MD
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to treat a chronic nonhealing wound in a patient with beta-thalassemia. Although topical Deferoxamine (DFO) has yet to be FDA approved, it represents a promising therapy for wounds and other cutaneous problems. This is the first in-human use of topical DFO in the treatment of a beta-thalassemia wound.
Methods: The patient suffered from beta thalassemia and presented with a chronic right medial ankle wound since April 2020. The patient was followed long term at our wound care center and had a long history of partially healing and recurring. The topical DFO patch was applied daily. The patient was followed weekly to quantify wound size with the AranzMedical Silhouette System, as well as to perform routine wound care. The patients serum was drawn throughout the course of treatment, and pharmacokinetic analysis of DFO levels was performed on the samples.
Results: Despite approximately 55 weeks of marginal improvement in healing while receiving the standard of care in wound care, this patient’s wound healed after 21 weeks of treatment with DFO. Additionally the patient reported improvement in the associated pain of having an open wound. Systemic levels of DFO were shown to be below the quantifiable limit of 1.00 ng/mL before treatment, in the middle of treatment, and at the conclusion of treatment.
Conclusion: We believe that topical DFO has the potential to accelerate healing in beta-thalassemia wounds by mechanism of iron chelation.