Adrenal insufficiency in non-transfusion-dependent α-thalassemia.

Background: Very few studies about adrenal insufficiency (AI) have been published with regard to non-transfusion-dependent (NTD) thalassemia, and none of those studies involved α-thalassemia patients. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the prevalence of AI in patients with NTD α-thalassemia, and to identify factors that predict the development of AI in this thalassemia subpopulation.

Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in NTD α-thalassemic children at three referral hospitals in Thailand in 2015-2016.