The Iron and Copper Concentration of the Liver in Intrauterine Life and in Haemolytic Disease

Summary A study of the iron and copper concentration of livers from 75 apparently normal stillborns and 11 infants dying with haemolytic disease, show that in normal circumstances there is no increase in the iron and copper concentration with increasing intrauterine maturity. There is no difference between the concentration of copper in the left and right lobes but there is a significant difference in the amount of iron, the left containing more than the right. In children with haemolytic disease there is a gross increase in the iron concentration of the liver and this is more marked in the right than in the left lobe. In children with Rh disease there is possibly some diminution in the copper concentration of the liver in those cases that survive to full term.