One of the tests is a measure of iron in the blood. Another is for blood ferritin, a protein that carries iron. With hemochromatosis, these tests will be abnormally high. When the blood tests are repeated and the results are consistently high, the physician usually diagnoses hemochromatosis. A liver biopsy is then performed to determine how much iron is stored in the liver and if there has been any liver damage.
Liver biopsy is done under local anesthesia.
A slender needle is inserted through the right lower chest to extract a small piece of liver for microscopic analysis. Treatment Red blood cells are rich in iron, so their removal will reduce the amount of iron in the body. Treatment begins with one to two pints of blood being removed each week or so, until stored iron is reduced to normal levels. It may take several months or longer to accomplish this. After iron stores are reduced to normal, the patient should continue to have blood drawn periodically.