Value of speckle tracking echocardiography for detection of clinically silent left ventricular dysfunction in patients with β-thalassemia.

Objective: β-Thalassemia is an inherited hemoglobin disorder resulting in chronic hemolytic anemia requiring chronic transfusion therapy. Cardiac involvement is the main cause of death in patients with thalassemia major. The narrow border is between overt myocardial dysfunction and clinically silent left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in patients with thalassemia.