Frequency of Endocrine Complications in Thalassemia Children Admitted in A Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of endocrine complications in thalassemic patients requiring repeated blood transfusion admitted in a tertiary care hospital.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences Muzaffarabad Azad Kashmir. Duration of study was from July 2021 to December 2021 for a period of six months.

Materials and Methods: Children of age 2-14 years with thalassemia major were included in this study. Venous blood sample (5 ml) was taken from the patients and sent to the institutional laboratory for specific investigations. Data was analyzed using spss-17 software.

Results: Total 180 cases were enrolled into this study including 110(61.1%) male and 70(38.8%) female cases. Mean age of the patients was 7.21 ± 3.54 years. Mean number of blood transfusions per month in this study was 3.32 ± 1.42 while 123 (68.3%) had blood transfusion more than two times per month in this study. Parental consanguinity was found in 130(72.2%) cases. Diabetes mellitus was found in 42(23.3%) and hypothyroidism was found in 28(15.5%) cases.

Conclusion: Significant frequency of endocrine complications was found in thalassemic children in our study. Endocrine complications were associated with age, number of blood transfusions per month, parental consanguinity and duration of disease.