1365 remained high, iron-binding proteins were fully saturated, and his cardiomyopathy was worsening; continuous subcutaneous infusion of desferrioxamine was felt to be an appropriate treatment. With a portable syringe-pump (Mill Hill infuser, Muirhead Ltd, Beckenham, Kent) 900 mg desferrioxamine dissolved in sterile 0-154 mol/1 saline, was infused daily through a cannula (21 gauge butterfly) implanted in the s.c. tissue of the anterior abdominal wall. Over 10 days 6-61 mmol (370 mg) of iron were excreted in the urine. This is equivalent to venesecting 700-800 ml of blood. It is possible that iron removal could be increased further by using a higher dose of desferrioxamine (up to 4 g/24 h) and/or the addition of ascorbic acid.4 We suggest, not that the s.c. infusion of desferrioxamine should replace venesection as the standard treatment for haEmochromatosis, but that it provides an efficient and acceptable alternative treatment for certain (e.g., anaemic) patients. The drawbacks are the cost and the possibility of early cataract formation with extended desferrioxamine administration though continuous infusion improves the iron removing efficiency and probably does so at lower blood levels of the chelating agent than by i.v. or s.c. bolus administration. The subcutaneous infusion of desferrioxamine may have an important part to play in treating the early stages of haemochromatosis and reducing the pathological sequelae. D. B. JEFFERYS Unit for Metabolic Medicine, J. C. PICKUP Department of Medicine, C. M. HAW Guy’s Hospital Medical School, London SE19RT H. KEEN

CIRCULATING PROSTACYCLIN MAY BE REDUCED IN DIABETES

SIR,-Prostacyclin production by blood vessels from patients with diabetes is depressed,5,6 and it has been suggested that vascular complications in such patients may be due to deficient prostacyclin production and enhanced platelet aggregation and adhesiveness. Circulating levels of prostacyclin have been estimated by measurement of plasma concentrations of its stable metabolite, 6-oxo-PGF la but Davis et aI.7 found no difference in the plasma concentration of this prostanoid in male diabetics and matched controls. We have measured plasma concentrations of 6-oxo-PGFl