Background: Deferasirox is an oral iron chelator widely used to treat iron overload in patients with transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia. This study investigated the prevalence of visual and auditory complications caused by deferasirox. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 156 patients aged less than 18 years with transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia and deferasirox iron chelator consumption admitted to the 17 Shahrivar Hospital and the Besat Clinic in Rasht, Iran. All the patients were examined for visual and auditory complications caused by deferasirox in 2019. A checklist of the patients' demographical and clinical data was recorded. Data analysis was done with SPSS and reported by descriptive statistics. Then, Fisher's exact test was performed to examine the association between visual and auditory disorders and the use of deferasirox in terms of disease-related variables including age, sex, age of onset of using chelator, drug use duration, drug dosage, and mean 6-months serum ferritin levels (P <0.05 as the significance level). Results: Of a total of 156 patients, 103 (66%) were female and 56 (35.9%) were 20-30 years of age. The prevalence of visual acuity change was 0.6%, and the prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss was 1.3%. There was only one female with the visual disorder decreasing to 9/10 and with a dose of 31-40 mg/kg/day with an average of 1000-2500 ng/ml six-month ferritin. Also, two females with hearing impairment were confirmed with a dose of ≤30 mg/kg/day, and an average of ≤1000 ng/ml six-month ferritin. The Fisher's exact test results showed no significant relationship between visual and auditory disorders with the use of deferasirox in terms of disease-related variables (p>0.05). Conclusion: The study's findings showed no significant relationship between visual and auditory disorders with deferasirox consumption. The results indicated the safety of deferasirox regarding visual and auditory side effects. More studies are required to confirm the findings.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.