[Evaluation of iron overload in thalassemia]

The aim of the paper is to assess the value of a series of clinical and laboratory indices used in determining the degree of iron overload in homozygous beta-thalassaemic patients. 155 thalassaemic patients of different age in chelation with subcutaneous infusions of desferrioxamine for a period of 2-7 years have been studied. Calculation of the total iron accumulated and the iron load per kg of body weight in patients undergoing chelation requires an exact knowledge of their compliance and faecal and urinary iron elimination, and is clearly open to many errors. Despite this, usefull information can be derived from its determination. We have found, for example, that serious organ damage tends to appear when iron accumulation exceeds 1 g/kg. In addition, the serum ferritin and the evaluation of the growth have been proved to be the most important and helpful indices for checking the effectiveness of the chelation therapy and forecasting the appearance of the serious complications as diabetes or hypothyroidism.