Endocrine complications in patients of beta thalassemia major in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

Objective: To determine the major endocrine complications present in patients of Thalassemia major presenting to a tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: Records of all thallasemia major patients at a Haematology Department in a tertiary care hospital of Karachi were retrospectively reviewed from May to August 2009 with specific focus on endocrine data and investigations. The patients' data was recorded in a questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS v.17, frequencies and percentages along with corresponding 95% confidence interval were computed. Results: Our data revealed that a significantly small percentage of those under care received regular endocrine follow-up. Male hypo-gonadal abnormalities had the highest probability; 100% of the tested patients had decreased levels of testosterone, while 95.2% had raised serum creatinine levels. Parathyroid dysfunction was noted in 40% of the patients. Of those screened 29.4% had blood glucose levels in the diabetic range and 11.8% of the tested patients had reduced levels of FT4. Conclusion: A high frequency at endocrine dysfunctions seen in thalasaemia patients included: male hypogonadism, parathyroid dysfunction, deranged blood glucose and FT4 levles.