Heart involvement in transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia with conventional echocardiography.

Background: The most important prognostic factor in transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia is cardiac involvement which is usually evaluated with echocardiography.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study (April 2011 to April 2012), conventional echocardiography was used to assess myocardial performance and valvular involvement (through transvalvular Doppler study) for right and left heart abnormalities in transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia.

Results: Among the 60 patients, 43 cases had heart problems, 26 (43.