Iron overload and liver function in patients with beta thalassemia major: A cross sectional study

Objective: In thalassemia major, repeated blood transfusions result in iron overload causing organ damage. The objective of this study was assessment of liver enzymes in patients with Thalassemia major and to observe their association with ferritin. Method: A cross-sectional study was performed, at Islamabad Medical and Dental College and its affiliated Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital from November 2021 till August 2022. Serum ferritin, AST, ALT, and total bilirubin levels were determined, in 135 patients of beta thalassemia major receiving transfusions. Data analysis was performed using SPSS Version 20. For categorical variables, calculation of frequencies and percentages was performed. Mean (± standard deviation) was determined for quantitative variables. ANOVA with post hoc Tukey’s test was used for determining association between liver enzymes and serum ferritin. A p-value of 5000ng/ml, when compared with patients having ferritin levels < 2,500 ng/ml. A significant positive correlation of increasing serum ferritin levels was observed with ALT (r= 0.682), to a lesser extent with AST (r = 0.532), and only a weak correlation with serum bilirubin (r = 0.350). Conclusion: Liver damage was caused by increased iron deposition. LFTs should be performed regularly to detect and reduce liver damage by increasing chelation therapy, thereby reducing morbidity and mortality due to thalassemia. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.9.8961 How to cite this: Faruqi A, Zafar T, Subuctageen S, Mughal IA. Iron overload and liver function in patients with beta thalassemia major: A cross sectional study. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(9):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.9.8961 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.