Number of erythrocyte transfusions is more predictive than serum ferritin in estimation of cardiac iron loading in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Background: Transfusions with packed erythrocytes is a common practice in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who are on chemotherapy. Since there is no physiological excretion mechanism for iron, the iron related to erythrocyte transfusions accumulates and may contribute to late cardiac, hepatic and endocrine complications in these patients.

Procedure: In order to evaluate the iron burden among pediatric patients with ALL and define the risk factors associated with higher iron loading, we evaluated 79 pediatric patients with ALL (36 were off-therapy).