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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESAuthors and team members of the Dubai Thalassemia Centre obtained data on the prevalence of iron overload complications among patients with β-thalassemia major (β-TM) and compared it to international data to improve patient care and evaluate the effectiveness of earlier used treatment modalities. The information obtained is also expected to be useful in genetic counseling.DESIGN AND SETTINGCross-sectional study of all living transfusion-dependent β-TM patients registered at the Thalassemia Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, until the end of 2007 (n=382).PATIENTS AND METHODSDiagnosis of TM was based on clinical history and laboratory confirmation by hemoglobin electrophoresis and DNA testing. All were uniformly treated with desferrioxamine and monitored by serial serum ferritin.RESULTSThe mean (SD) age of patients was 15.4 (7.6) years, with 50.5% males. Mean (SD) serum ferritin was 2597.2 (1976.8) μg/L. The frequency of iron overload complications were as follows: hypogonadism (n=99, 52.7%), hypoparathyroidism (n=40, 10.5%), diabetes mellitus (n=40, 10.5%), hypothyroidism (n=24, 6.5%) and cardiomyopathies (n=7, 1.8%). Hypogonadism was the most common endocrine abnormality in our study and other reported series. However, cardiomyopathies were less prevalent among our patients with higher rates of diabetes and hypoparathyroidism compared to rates reported internationally. Females had statistically significant lower serum ferritin (2530.8 (1931.2), P<.05) with a lower cardiomyopathies rate.CONCLUSIONIron overload related complications among our patients with thalassemia major were different from those reported internationally. Studying the genetic status of patients from our area may uncover the underlying genetic modifiers of iron overload mediated organs injury.

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<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> The predominant coagulation abnormalities in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) suggest a hypercoagulable state and are consistent with uncontrolled clinical observations of an increased risk of venous thromboembolism. <b><i>Aim and Objectives:</i></b> To compare the effect of prophylactic versus therapeutic doses of enoxaparin in the treatment of severe cases of COVID-19 infection. <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> This was a retrospective observational study conducted at Latifa hospital, Dubai. Fifty-nine patients enrolled from March to June 2020 and divided into 2 groups: patients who received the prophylactic dose of enoxaparin (group 1) and patients who received the therapeutic dose of enoxaparin (group 2). <b><i>Results:</i></b> The mean age of all cases was 47.2 ± 10.4 years, while the mean weight was 76.4 ± 13.4 kg. Males represented 79.7% of cases. Blood group “O” was the most frequent blood group (40.9%). None of the cases were smokers or using alcohol. Bronchial asthma, lung diseases, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, CKD, cardiac disease, thyroid disease, and immunodeficiency were present in 1.7, 1.7, 39, 27.1, 5.1, 1.7, 5.1, and 1.7% respectively. There was no significant difference between both study groups regarding personal and medical characteristics, except for hypertension where 35.9% of group 2 (therapeutic) cases were hypertensive compared to 10% of group 1 cases (prophylactic). There was a significant difference between both study groups regarding inflammatory markers improvement duration, duration of MV and O₂ support duration, with longer duration among (therapeutic) group 2 cases compared to group 1 cases (prophylactic). There was a highly significant difference between both study groups regarding ICU admission, as 64% of group 1 cases were admitted compared to 25% of group 1 cases. Similarly, 38.5% of group 2 cases needed MV compared to only 10% of group 1 cases, which was statistically significant. There was no significant difference between both groups regarding bleeding tendency and mortality (<i>p</i> value 0.54). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Our results showed that use of prophylactic dose of enoxaparin might have some benefits compared to the therapeutic dose in terms of less duration of ICU and hospital stay, duration of oxygen support, need and duration of MV, and normalization of inflammatory markers. However, there was no significant difference between the 2 regimens regarding the mortality.

Background: Adult patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) and ESRD have limited curative treatment options as many are deemed not to be candidates for an allogeneic transplant (SCT) or clinical trials. Furthermore,