Prevalence of Thyroid Dysfunction in b- Thalassemia Major Patients

Abstract

Fifty β-thalassemia major patients were included in this study(28 males and 22 females), their age ranging from 8-18 years with a mean of 12.7±2.63 years. Exclusion criteria: - Age <8 years and >18 years . - Hepatic or cardiac decompensation . - Associated anemia due to a different etiology. - Medications affecting thyroid function . The mean height for age percentile was 16.85±21.8, short stature was found in 40% of patients(below 5th percentile). The mean weight for age percentile was 17.2±18.7, , and the mean BMI percentile was 31.72±22.9 ,only 8% are under Wt. Thyroid US revealed that mean thyroid volume percentile was 80.4±17.9 , and grade 1, 2, 3, 4 echogenicity were detected in 46%, 28%, 22%, 4% respectively.Serum ferritin and TSH levels were significantly higher in grade 4 than other grades, but no significant difference regarding other parameters was detected. There was a significant difference between good and poorly complient groups in serum ferritin (p=0.002) ,and thyroid volume percentile (p=0.0196), also there was a significant difference between patients receiving Desferoxamine and those receiving Deferiprone in Wt (p=0.0379) and BMI percentile (p=0.38).There was no significant difference between patients with splenectomy and those who did not undergo splenectomy. There was a significant –ve correlation between TSH & FT4(p=0.0294), and a significant +ve correlation between TSH