Bone mineral density in children and young adults with beta-thalassemia major conventionally treated.

摘要

We read with interest the paper by Lal et al. studying bone mineral density (BMD) in children with sickle cell disease. In their discussion, the authors compared their results to other studies performed on patients with thalassemia. As we have recently studied our younger patients with beta-thalassemia major regarding lumbar BMD, we would like to report our experience. Thirty-five children and young adults with thalassemia (19 females and 16 males) with a mean age of 12.7 years were included in our study. All patients were treated with regular blood transfusions in order to maintain pre-transfused hemoglobin levels above 9.5 g/dl, and adequate chelation therapy with combination of deferioxamine and deferiprone. None of them had any clinical or laboratory findings of endocrinopathy or were receiving any kind of hormonal replacement therapy. BMD of the lumbar vertebrae (L2-L4) was assessed by dual X-ray absorptiometry technique (DXA) using Cronos~R DMS~R bone densitometer (France). Results were expressedas grams per centimeter-squared (g/cm~2), whereas Z-scores were calculated based on BMD of age- and sex-matched normal population. Supplementary, auxiological, and biochemical data were recorded.