Echocardiographic Assessment of Cardiac Involvement in Patients with Thalassemia Major: Evidence of Abnormal Relaxation Pattern of the Left Ventricle in Children and

Background- Cardiac involvement which leads to congestive heart failure (CHF) is a major cause of death in patients with thalassemia major due to hemosiderosis and chronic anemia. Although the left ventricular (LV) systolic function in patients with thalassemia major has been considerably studied, LV diastolic function has not been assessed adequately. In this current study we used Doppler echocardiography to assess LV function. The aim of our study is to investigate the consequences of chronic anemia and transfusional iron overload on the LV function, especially the diastolic filling pattern in patients with thalassemia major. We sought to test the hypothesis of measurement of myocardial performance index (MPI) and isovolumetric relaxation time (IVRT) in an early stage of the disease, when iron overload has not yet caused irreversible changes. Methods- 65 patients with thalassemia major in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class I, II who have been treated with desferioxamine with mean age of 11±3 years were randomly selected and assessed by Doppler echocardiography and the data were compared prospectively with those obtained in 48 age and sex-matched normal subjects