Ferrochelating Treatment in Patients Affected by Neurodegeneration With Brain Iron Accumulation (NBIA)

This trial is a multicenter, unblinded, single-arm pilot study, lasting one year (plus one year extension Amendment n.3 25 August 2009, plus two years follow-up Amendment n.7) , to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the chelator therapy with deferiprone on cerebral iron accumulations. The drug will be administered in the dosage of 15 mg/kg twice daily. The safety and tolerability of the drug will be evaluated by measuring hemochrome every seven days with leukocyte formula count. At 3, 6 and 12 months from the start of treatment, a neurological evaluation will be performed using several specific evaluation scales (International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS); Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS); Burke-Fahn-Marsden (BFM)). Every 6 months of treatment, a brain magnetic resonance image (MRI) aimed at measuring iron overload quantitatively, if possible.