Epidemiological Characteristics and Disease Complications in Thalassemia Syndrome Patients in Babylon, Iraq

Thalassemia is the most common heritable disorder globally, characterized by the synthesis of low atypical hemoglobin and erythrocytes destruction. There are inadequate data about the epidemiology and other thalassemia traits in Iraq. This study was conducted to inspect the thalassemia epidemiology in Babylon, Iraq.

This single-center retrospective study involved 306 thalassemic patients. Patients were recruited from those recorded at ‘’Babylon Hereditary Blood Disorders Center’’. Information related to demographic characteristics, age at first diagnosis, socio-economic status, family history, place of residence, frequency of blood transfusions, chelation therapy and serum ferritin measurement were collected and analyzed.

The mean age of the studied patients was 2.3-17.9 years, which included 185 males and 121 females. 75% of the patients had thalassemia major, 12% had thalassemia intermedia, and 0.3% suffered minor thalassemia. 3.3% had thalassemia with G6PD deficiency, 2% had sickle thalassemia, 1.3% had alpha thalassemia, and 4.6% had beta-thalassemia. The patients received regular blood transfusions about once or twice monthly in the majority of the cases (85.6%). The mean serum ferritin concentrations were high (2976.9 μg/L). The growth in the males was affected more than in females (p=0.05). Most of the patients were from rural areas and 2/3rd of the thalassemia patients had a family history of thalassemia and a high rate of parental consanguineous marriage (p=0.001). The majority of the patients had one or more complications of thalassemia. All the children under 10 years of age included in the study revealed stunted growth significantly.

According to the results of this study, the management of thalassemia necessitates early diagnosis of irregular transfusion programs, and associated comorbidities, besides prompt actions. Comprehensive premarital screening, paternal counseling programs, and ongoing regulation can all aid in bringing down prevalence to far lower levels.