Liver disease in chelated transfusion-dependent thalassemics: the role of iron and chronic hepatitis C
- DI MARCO, V.
- Capra, M.
- Gagliardotto, F.
- Borsellino, Z.
- Cabibi, D.
- Barbaria, F.
- Ferraro, D.
- Cuccia, L.
- Ruffo, G.
- Bronte, F.
- DI STEFANO, R.
- Almasio, P.
- Craxi, A.
DOIAbstract
Iron overload and hepatitis virus C infection cause liver fibrosis in thalassemics. In a monocentric retrospective analysis of liver disease in a cohort of 191 transfusion-dependent thalassemics, in 126 patients who had undergone liver biopsy (mean age 17.2 years; 58 hepatitis virus C-RNA positive and 68 hepatitis virus C-RNA negative) the liver iron concentration (median 2.4 mg/gr dry liver weight) was closely related to serum ferritin levels (R = 0.58; p<0.0001). Male gender (OR 4.12) and serum hepatitis virus C-RNA positivity (OR 11.04) were independent risk factors for advanced liver fibrosis. The majority of hepatitis virus C-RNA negative patients with low iron load did not develop liver fibrosis, while hepatitis virus C-RNA positive p...
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