Assessment of Liver, Thyroid Gland and Growth Hormone Functions in Beta Thalassemia Major

Abstract

     Labile plasma iron and tissue iron overload are major complications of thalassemia disease that increase mortality rate. The iron that is exceeding the capacity of transferrin and ferritin is the leading cause of cell oxidation of many organs such as liver, heart, endocrine systems, etc. This study is designed to investigate the status of liver, thyroid gland and the growth hormone in beta thalassemia patients. In a cross-sectional study, 65 samples of beta thalassemia major were taken who were on a regular chelation therapy and blood transfusion and were to be compared with reference values. The results of the study estimated that 98.46% of the cases had high serum ferritin level, 12.3% high ALT, 27.7% high AST, 86.15% high ALP, 69.23% high total serum bilirubin, and 36.92% high TSH level.  The results revealed that more than half of the patients had Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD).  The serum ferritin was found to be correlated with ALT and AST enzymes (p< 0.01. Furthermore, alkaline phosphatase and serum bilirubin can be good markers for monitoring bile duct obstruction resulted from hemolysis and blood transfusion.