Abstract Background and Objectives: Thalassemia is a common hereditary hemolytic anemia in children and has considerable morbidity and mortality. The present study was conducted to study the clinical profile and outcome of children with thalassemia who were admitted to our hospital. Materials and Methods: This observational study was conducted from November 2016 to October 2018. Children with a diagnosis of thalassemia and getting admitted during the study period were included. Detailed history and clinical and laboratory examinations were entered into predesigned pro forma. Categorical variables were analyzed by the Chi-square test, and continuous variables were analyzed by the Student’s t -test. Results: Eighty-one children were included, of which 56 (69%) were male with an M:F ratio of 2.2:1. Majority of the children were 6–9 years of age ( n = 32, 39.5%). β-thalassemia major was the underlying diagnosis in 79 (97.5%) cases and β-thalassemia intermedia in 2 (2.5%) cases. Majority (97.5%) were diagnosed for the first time during infancy (6 months to 1 year of age). Pallor was seen in all cases (100%), hepatosplenomegaly in 95% of cases, and hemolytic facies in 40% of cases. Thirty-two (39%) children had a serum ferritin level of ≥2500 ng/mL. Children with a number of transfusions ≥140 have a 71% increased chance of serum ferritin level ≥2500 ng/mL ( P = 0.004). Children with iron chelation therapy ( n = 52) showed a significantly lower level of serum ferritin ( P < 0.01). Conclusions: All thalassemic patients needing regular packed red cell transfusions, whether on iron chelation therapy or not, should be evaluated and monitored at regular intervals so that effective case management strategy can be taken at the time of need.
Das et al. (Fri,) studied this question.