Assessment Of Patients With Beta-Thalassemia Major, Undergoing Tertiary Care At A Regional Thalassemia Center In Pakistan

To assess iron overload, disturbed liver and hematological profile and secondary complications in beta thalassemia major (BTM) patients, the current study was carried on 408 subjects including 204 patients and 204 controls. For all 408 individuals; complete blood count (CBC), blood group, serum ferritin level and liver function tests were performed. Secondary complications were assessed by physical examination of pallor, splenomegaly, ascites, and hepatomegaly. The average SD values of patients' CBCs and liver enzymes were: red blood cells 3.07x 10(12)+/- 0.769x 10(12)/L, white blood cells 8.89x 10(9)+/- 2.849x 10(9)/L, hemoglobin 8.01 +/- 1.027 g/dL, platelets 321.68x 10(9)/L, 1.027x 10(9)/L serum terrain 2773.3 +/- 1071.9ng/mL, alanine transaminase 117.12 +/- 32.001U/L, aspartate transaminase 84.77 +/- 18.223U/L and bilirubin 1.02 +/- 0.139mg/dL. CBC of control group revealed that all of the studied parameters were normal in them and BTM patients showed significant deviation from control in both hematological and hepatic profile (P < 0.05). Examination for secondary complications revealed that Pallor sign was observed in 79.6% of patients, followed by splenomegaly (64.9%) and hepatomegaly (9%). As far as the control group is concerned no complication was found in that group. Current study provides sufficient evidence to justify advanced therapies to overcome secondary complications, iron overload, disturbed hepatic and hematological profile of patients and overall offers insight into improving the quality of treatment for beta-thalassemia major patients.