Neonatal hemochromatosis: report of an autopsy case

ABSTRACT

A case of neonatal hemochromatosis in a 3-hour-old male is described. He presented with hypotonia, mild jaundice, and respiratory difficulty immediately after birth. He had no evidence of congenital infection, immune-related hemolysis or exogenous iron uptake. Postmortem examination revealed abnormal facial features. The organs were of normal weight for his age except a small liver and lungs, and a large spleen. The most prominent changes were in the liver and pancreas. The liver was coarsely nodular and fibrotic. The lobular architecture was totally distorted by innumerable multinucleated giant cells, loss or collapse of the hepatocytes, and diffuse fibrosis. A large amount of hemosiderin was seen in the liver, pancreatic acini and thyroid follicular cells. Scanty amount of hemosiderin was also found in the myocardial fibers and renal tubular cells. The pancreas showed hyperplasia and hypertrophy of the islets. The spleen showed severe congestion and a moderate extramedullary hemopoiesis but no deposits of hemosiderin. This patient had three siblings died in neonatal period, one of which had clinical features of neonatal hemochromatosis.