ABSTRACT
Background: Linear growth and bone mineral density are commonly affected in thalassemic children and the aetiology is usually multifactorial
Objective: To study the effect of zinc supplementation on linear growth and bone mineral density in prepubertal children with beta-thalassemia major.
Methodology: This is an intervention study at hematology clinic, Ain-Shams university, started at Aptil 2012. until April 2014. Forty prepubertal osteoporotic thalassemic children Ninteen males and twenty one females, were supplemented with oral zinc sulfate capsule, once daily for 12 months consecutively. Height percentile [plotted on DEMPU curves], serum zinc level and BMD Z-score [measured by DEXA] were measured both before and after zinc intake
Results: There was statistically significant improvement when height percentile, serum zinc level andBMD Z-score were measured before and after zinc supplementation [P value <0.001]. There was no statistically significant difference between males and females when all these parameters were measured either before or after zinc supplementation [P value >0.05]
Conclusion: Zinc supplementation had a positive impact on linear growth and BMD in prepubertal children with beta-thalassemia major and this effect couldhave been magnified if zinc was provided at an earlier age and for a longer time