Left and right ventricular function and volume assessment in young thalassemia major patients with no related myocardial iron overload.

Thalassemia major (TM) patients have altered ventricular volumes and ejection fraction compared to normals, although evidence for these findings stem from restricted patient groups and has never been reproduced. We sought to evaluate cardiac parameters by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in a group of young TM patients not covered by previous studies that are more representative of the TM population in many countries. Seventy patients including 40 TM with normal myocardial iron concentrations, and 30 age- and gender-matched normal (NL) volunteers underwent a CMR study for assessment of left and right ventricle volumes and function using a 1.5-T scanner. Left and right ventricle ejection fraction, indexed systolic and diastolic volumes, and indexed mass were compared between the two groups. Mean age of TM patients was 18.2 ± 7.1 versus 17.5 ± 8.5 years in NL with no significant differences (P = 0.73). There was no difference in left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction between the groups (TM 64.9 ± 5.7 %, NL 64.9 ± 5.2 %; P = 0.97). LV normalized end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes were significantly higher in patients with TM compared to NL volunteers (76.8 ± 19.4 versus 66.6 ± 11.7 mL/m², P = 0.008, and 27.0 ± 8.8 versus 23.6 ± 5.0 mL/m², P = 0.045). LV indexed mass was also higher in TM patients compared to NL (51.2 ± 11.9 versus 42.0 ± 8.5 g/m², P < 0.001). No significant differences were observed in right ventricular parameters. In conclusion, younger patients with TM do not present different left or right ventricular function values compared to normal controls despite having increased left ventricular volumes and mass.