ABSTRACT
The thalassemias are among the most prevalent genetic diseases worldwide. There is a high incidence of beta-thalassemia in Iran; one of the countries located on the so-called "thalassemia belt". Repeated blood transfusion in thalassemia may cause iron deposition in many tissues including endocrine organs. To study the pituitary changes in beta-thalassemia detected by MRI in correlation with hormonal changes. Thirty-six patients with beta-thalassemia major with mean age of 17.8 +/- 3 years [17 male and 19 female] were enrolled in this study. The control group comprised of 20 [10 male and 10 female] age- and sex-matched individuals. All of the patients and controls underwent clinical examination, hormonal study and MRI of the pituitary gland. Forty-seven% of the girls and 53% of the boys with thalassemia major had small size pituitary gland. Fifty-three% of the boys and 58% of the girls patients had low pituitary signal in T2 weighted image. Seventy-eight per cent of the patients had hypogonadotropic hypogonadism [H.H]. There was a statistically significant correlation between low hormonal level [H.H] and both low pituitary signal [P<0.012] and small pituitary size [P<0.04]. A significant% of beta-thalassemic patients show small size and hyposignal pituitary gland in sagittal and coronal T2 weighted MRI images which have a statically significant correlation with hormonal deficiency and pituitary dysfunction