Impact of genotype on pancreatic iron overload and impaired glucose metabolism in thalassemia major.

On the basis of the type of gene mutation, three groups of patients with thalassemia major were identified: homozygotes β+, compound heterozygotes β+/β° and homozygotes β°. β0β0 patients were more likely to have pancreatic iron overload than both β+β+ patients and β0β+patients and had a double risk of alterations of glucose metabolism compared to β+β+ patients. Our findings support the knowledge of the different genotypic groups in the clinical management of β-TM patients.