Endocrine Disorders in Beta thalassemia Major Patients

Chahkandi, Tayyebeh; Norouziasl, Samaneh; Farzad, Marjan; Ghanad, Fatemeh

doi:10.22038/ijp.2017.21937.1834

Endocrine Disorders in Beta thalassemia Major Patients

Authors

¹ Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Cardiovascular Diseases Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.

² Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Endocrinologist, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

³ MSc in Nursing, Cardiovascular Diseases Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.

⁴ Students Research Committee, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.

10.22038/ijp.2017.21937.1834

Abstract

Background
Thalassemia is the most common hereditary disorder worldwide. The patient's’ survival is dependent on lifetime blood transfusion which leads to iron overload and its toxicity on various organs including endocrine glands. The study aimed to investigate endocrine disorders in patients with Beta-thalassemia major in the Southern Khorasan province, Iran.
Materials and Methods
In this descriptive cross sectional study of the 42 patients with Beta thalassemia major blood samples were taken in the fasting to check laboratory tests such as fasting blood sugar, calcium, phosphorous, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroxine (T4), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), parathyroid hormone (PTH), Ferritin. Data analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 software.
Results
85.7% of patients had endocrine disorders. The most common endocrine abnormalities were hypogonadism (71.4%), hypoparathyroidism (21.4%), diabetes (14.3%), and hypothyroidism (7.2%), respectively.
Conclusion
Our results concluded that endocrine evaluation must be carried out regularly in patients with thalassemia major. Patients who have abnormal endocrine laboratory results should be reevaluated for compliance with chelation therapy and the transfusion program.

Keywords