Ferric maltol, sold under the brand names Accrufer (US) and Feraccru (EU), is an iron containing medication for the treatment of adults with low iron stores. It is taken by mouth. Contraindications
The drug is contraindicated in people with hereditary hemochromatosis and other kinds of iron overload, as well as those repeatedly receiving blood transfusions and are therefore also at risk of developing iron overload. Side effects
The most common side effects are flatulence (in 5% of people taking the drug), diarrhea (4%), constipation (4%), stool color change (4%), nausea (3%), vomiting (3%), and abdominal discomfort, bloating and pain (1%). Ferric maltol may cause serious side effects including increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease flare and iron overload in the body. Interactions
No systematic interaction studies with ferric maltol have been conducted. Food reduces its uptake from the gut, as do calcium and magnesium salts and tetracycline antibiotics. Conversely, iron inhibits the uptake of many drugs, such as bisphosphonates, tetracycline antibiotics, quinolone antibiotics, levothyroxin, and levodopa. Combining the drug with intravenous iron can result in fast release of iron into the blood, potentially leading to low blood pressure or even collapse.Dimercaprol in combination with iron is toxic for the kidneys. The antibiotic chloramphenicol interferes with incorporation of iron into red blood cells and with iron excretion. Furthermore, iron can reduce the blood pressure lowering effects of methyldopa.Maltol is metabolized by the enzyme UGT1A6. It is not known whether inhibitors of this enzyme increase maltol concentrations in the body.
There is usually loss of fine motor control, particularly obvious in handwriting if the child is of school age. Speech is often affected (dysarthria), as is walking; legs will suddenly give way or flick out to one side, giving an irregular gait and the appearance of skipping or dancing. Underlying the abnormal movements is often low tone (hypotonia) which may not become obvious until treatment is started to suppress the chorea. In severe cases, the loss of tone and weakness predominate (chorea paralyticum). The severity of the condition can vary from just some instability on walking and difficulty with hand writing, to the extreme of being wholly unable to walk, talk, or eat. Movements cease during sleep. The eye muscles are not affected, curiously.It is a neuropsychiatric disorder, so besides the motor problems there is classically emotional lability (mood swings, or inappropriate mood), anxiety, attention deficit. These can precede the motor symptoms.Non-neurologic manifestations of acute rheumatic fever may be present, namely carditis (up to 70% of cases, often subclinical, so echocardiography required), arthritis, erythema marginatum, and subcutaneous nodules. Differentiating these signs from other involuntary movements such as tics and stereotypies can be difficult, and since these things are not uncommon they can potentially co-exist. Diagnosis is often delayed and attributed to another condition such as tic disorder or conversion disorder. The controversial PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections) hypothesis has overlapping clinical features but Sydenhams chorea is one of the exclusion criteria.