Bone mineral density in a cohort of transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT) patients

Background and objective: β-Thalassemia is a common inherited disease in this region. A considerable number of transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT) patients suffer bone problems. The objective of this study was to evaluate bone mineral density in TDT patients using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan. Methods: In this study, 53 TDT patients aged ≥10 years, together with 25 normal healthy individuals were enrolled. Their bone status was assessed using DEXA scan at lumber spine (L1-L4) and femoral neck. The effect of physical, biochemical, and hormonal characteristics on the bone mineral density (BMD) parameters were evaluated. BMD-Z score was used to assess the magnitude of bone disease. Results: The mean age of the patients was 21.3±7.8 years with male to female ratio 1.4:1. The values BMD parameters were significantly lower in the patients compared to the normal group. The mean values of BMD Z-core among the patients at lumber spine and femoral neck were -2.95±1.07 and -1.51±1.02 respectively. Among the patients, osteoporosis was detected in 69.8% and 13.2% in lumber spine and femoral neck respectively. None of the normal individuals had osteoporosis. Patients’ age. body mass index (BMI) and parathyroid hormone level had a significant association with BMD Z-score (P <0.05). Conclusion: Osteoporosis and osteopenia are extremely prevalent among our TDT patients. DEXA scan is an effective, non-invasive, and relatively inexpensive procedure for assessing bone status.