Serum ferritin levels and endocrinopathy in medically treated patients with β thalassemia major.

The association between iron overload indices and pathology of the heart and liver in transfusion-dependent patients with β thalassemia major (TM) has been extensively studied. Nonetheless, data on endocrine disease remains limited. This was a cross-sectional study of 382 TM patients treated with regular transfusions and desferrioxamine at the Thalassemia Center in Dubai, UAE.

Risk factors for pulmonary hypertension in patients with β thalassemia intermedia.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PHT) is a common yet poorly understood complication of β thalassemia intermedia (TI).

Methods: We herein evaluated risk factors for PHT in TI, through comparing 64 TI patients with evidence of PHT by symptomatology and echocardiography (Group I) to age- and sex-matched TI patients without PHT (Group II). Retrieved data included demographics, laboratory parameters, clinical characteristics, and received treatments that may influence PHT development; and reflected the period prior to PHT occurrence in Group I.