Revisiting the relationship between vitamin D deficiency, cardiac iron and cardiac function in thalassemia major.

摘要

Vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with thalas-semia major (TM), but its consequences are poorly understood. In 2008, we demonstrated that cardiac R2 and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were associated with vitamin D deficiency (1). However, our report was limited by its retrospective, cross-sectional nature, small, homogeneous study population, and relatively long delay between MRI and blood sampling. Most importantly, we did not obtain parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, relying on the ratio of vitamin D 25 OH to D 1-25 OH as a surrogate. These limitations have been addressed in a trial by Dimitriadou et ah, (2), which revealed a positive association between cardiac iron and serum PTH levels in patients with TM. Our present letter reports findings from a similar prospective cohort at our institution.