Growth in children with thalassaemia major and effect of two different transfusion regimens.

The belief that children with thalassaemia major are small is common, but few detailed studies have been recorded. Johnston and Wolman (1964), as a result of a cross-sectional study, concluded that children treated with high-level transfusion seemed in better health and grew more normally than those trans- fused at lower levels. He postulated that chronic hypoxia was more significant than iron overload in limiting growth in these patients. Johnston, Hertzog, and Malina (1966) in a longitudinal study confirmed that growth and skeletal maturity were delayed after the age of 4 years, and found that the pubertal growth spurt did not occur. They showed that high-level transfusion did not affect any of these parameters.