LPI, transferin saturation, and serum ferritin assay among minimally transfused young thalassemic patients a one year prospective study comparing early and delayed start of low dose deferiprone

Abstract

Red blood cell transfusions have significantly increased the life expectancy of beta thalassemia major patients. However excess iron resulting from transfusion therapy override the capacity of transferrin, when TSAT is >70%, significant amounts NTBI appear in plasma (Brissot et al., 2012) and are deposited in cardiac myocytes, hepatocytes, pituitary cells, and pancreatic cells (Breuer et al., 2000). Most of the guidelines recommend initiating iron chelation therapy after patients have received 10 or more transfusions or after reaching a serum ferritin level >1,000 ng/ml (Musallam et al., 2013). In the current study we aimed to detect the time of appearance of LPI in infants with beta thalassemia major in relation to other markers of iron overload and to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the early usage of low dose deferiprone in thalassemia patients. The current study was conducted on 37 beta thalassemia major patients over a period of 24 months from May 2015 to May 2017. We found that LPI levels positively correlated with TSAT levels (P<0.001) and age at enrollment (P=0.002),