A third chelating agent is available in Europe, deferiprone, for oral use, but is not available in the US.Clinical trials in MDS patients are ongoing, with iron chelating agents to address the question of whether iron chelation alters the natural history of patients with MDS who are transfusion dependent. Reversal of some of the consequences of iron overload in MDS by iron chelation therapy has been shown. Both the MDS Foundation and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network MDS Guidelines Panel have recommended that chelation therapy be considered to decrease iron overload in selected MDS patients. Evidence also suggests a potential value exists to iron chelation in patients who will undergo a stem-cell transplant. Although deferasirox is generally well tolerated (other than episodes of gastrointestinal distress and kidney dysfunction in some patients), recently a safety warning by the FDA and Novartis was added to deferasirox treatment guidelines. Following postmarketing use of deferasirox, rare cases of acute kidney failure or liver failure occurred, some resulting in death. Due to this, patients should be closely monitored on deferasirox therapy prior to the start of therapy and regularly thereafter. Prognosis
The outlook in MDS is variable, with about 30% of patients progressing to refractory AML. The median survival time varies from years to months, depending on type.
Alexis Littre (17 July 1654 – 3 February 1726) was a French physician and anatomist born in Cordes (currently Cordes-Tolosannes in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne). Biography
Littre studied medicine in Montpellier and Paris, receiving his doctorate in 1691. In 1699 he became a member of the Académie des Sciences. In Paris, he taught anatomy and was the author of numerous medical publications. He was the first to give a description of a hernial protrusion of an intestinal diverticulum. This condition is now referred to as "Littres hernia".He also described the mucous urethral glands of the male urethra. These structures were to become known as "Littres glands", and their inflammation is sometimes called "littreitis".In his 1710 treatise Diverses observations anatomiques, Littre was the first to suggest the possibility of performing a lumbar colostomy for an obstruction of the colon.Jean Louis Petit was one of his students. So was Jacques-Bénigne Winslow in 1707. He died in Paris. References
Alexis de Littre @ Who Named It

Notes
External links
Online articles by Littré 10 articles (2012-05-15) on the site of the Académie des sciences. Cotlar, Alvin M. (January 2002). "Historical landmarks in operations on the colon—surgeons courageous". Current Surgery. Elsevier. 59 (1): 91–95. doi:10.1016/s0149-7944(01)00606-7. ISSN 0149-7944. PMID 16093113. Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, Éloge de Monsieur Littré, p. 129, at Google Books, 1754, p. 129 (Eulogy)