Thyroid Function in Children with  -Thalassemia Major in North Jordan

Abstract

Basal thyroid function was assessed by serum thyroxine, tri-iodothyronine and thyroid-stimulating hormone levels in 90 patients 2-10 years old with beta-thalassaemia major. Based on measured serum ferritin levels, patients were classified into two groups: group (I) which included 63 patients with ferritin concentrations ranging from 300 to 7000 ng/ml (mild iron overload) and group (II) which included 27 patients with ferritin concentrations higher than 7000 ng/ml (severe iron overload). The results of thyroid function in both groups were compared with those of 50 control subjects. In group (I), the mean concentrations of all measured hormones were not significantly different from those of the controls. In group (II), the mean concentrations of thyroxine and tri-iodothyronine decreased by 29 and 35 per cent (P < 0.05), respectively, and the mean concentration of thyroid-stimulating hormone showed a 2.6-fold increase (P < 0.01) in comparison with those of the controls. The data clearly demonstrate the occurrence of impaired thyroid function and its possible association with iron overload in a considerable proportion of transfusion-dependent beta-thalassaemic patients.

Correlation of Thyroid Hormone Derangement with Serum Ferritin Level in Children with Beta Thalassaemia Major at a Tertiary Care Hospital of Bangladesh

“…Probably for this reason iron overload had no major contribution in thyroid hypo function in the present study. This observation did not support the findings of Al-Hader et al 4 who found that thyroid hypofunction is common in thalassaemic patients with iron overload. Agarwal et al 17 and Masala and his coworker 21 did not observe any significant correlation between iron overload and thyroid status.…”

“…Transfusion related iron overload is the primary therapeutic complication in thalassaemia 4 . Beside heart and liver, endocrine organs of the body bear the brunt of iron mediated insult 5 .…”

Thyroid hormone profile in beta-thalassemia major children

“…We found that thyroid dysfunction did not correlate with serum ferritin level. Similar observations have been made by others 12,13,14 .…”

Evaluation of Growth, Puberty and Endocrine Dysfunctions in Relation to Iron Overload in Multi Transfused Indian Thalassemia Patients

“…MB Agarwal et al reported subclinical hypothyroidism in 6.9% of thalassemic children but none of the patients in their study had overt clinical evidence of hypothyroidism [16]. In accordance with the observations made by other researchers, it is unlikely that thyroid dysfunction correlates with serum ferritin level [17][18][19].…”