spirometry and cardiopulmonary exercise performance in pateints with thalassemia major

Lung function abnormalities in patients with thalassemia major are various, complex and of different etiological backgrounds. To evaluate the pulmonary function changes during both rest and integrated cardiopulmonary exercise in patients with thalassemia major, we studied 30 thalassemia major cases with mean age of 18 +/- 13.34 years. Nineteen healthy subjects were enrolled as a control group. Routine laboratory tests as well as assessment of pulmonary function test during both rest and integrated cardiopulmonary exercise were performed for cases and controls, Both forced vital capacity [FVC] and forced expiratory flow in the first second [FEV1] were significantly reduced in cases than in controls [p<0.01 for both], pointing to a restrictive pulmonary dysfunction. Seventy percent of cases had FVC below the normal predicted value. Functional capacity, anaerobic threshold and °2 pulse were significantly reduced in cases than controls [p<0.05]. There is a statistically significant inverse correlation between serum ferritin levels and functional capacity. In the studied thalassemics, restrictive pattern of pulmonary dysfunction is the predominant abnormality. Poor cardiopulmonary exercise performance occurs and is multifactorial

Study of blood levels of glucose and insulin in Egyptian thalassemics not known to be diabetics

This study was conducted on 32 patients [19 females and 13 males] with thalassemia major aged 2-18 years [mean 11.8 years] and 10 age matched controls. They were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, fasting and postprandial glucose levels as well as estimation of fasting and postprandial insulin levels. The results showed that fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels were significantly higher in thalassemics compared with the controls. Fasting and postprandial serum insulin levels were significantly lower in thalassemics than in the controls. The mean serum ferritin level was higher in cases with diabetic glucose levels [2597.5 ng/mL] than those with normal glucose levels [1564 ng/mL]. Two patients showed higher fasting insulin levels [9.5-14 uU/mL] than the controls [6.9-8.3 uU/mL], despite the elevated blood glucose levels indicating an insulin resistance