OrganIronLevels As A Marker In Cases Oflron Overload

Abstract

Iron overload is one of the most important complications in chronic hemolytic anemia as thalassemia major. Which is in term leading to lethal injury to various organs e.g. the heart, liver, lung, skin and endocrine gland.

So estimation of iron level and monitoring of it during the course of the disease and treatment is very crucial to those patients.

There is no iron parameter efficiently used in assessment of iron status. Iron deposition is quantitated directly from repeated liver biopsies.

The aim of this work is to find a simple, easy, accurate and less expensive method to measure the level of iron content in thalassemic patients suffering from multitransfusional hemosiderosis.

The study group included 31 multitransfused thalassemic patients (17 males &14 females) presented to the pediatric hematology clinic in the NCUCH aged from 3.5 to 21 years and 10 healthy children were enrolled as control group.

Different pretransfusional laboratory tests were done as CBC, reticulocytic count, Hb electrophoresis and liver function tests (AST, ALT, total bilirubin and direct bilirubin). Some iron parameters were done (serum iron, TIBC, TS%, serum ferritin and STFR).

Liver and skin biopsies were taken from each patient at the same time of laboratory samples after informed consent where they were examined Histologically by the light microscope and biochemically by the atomic absorption spectrophotometer.