ABSTRACT
Background: Nutritional anemia is a worldwide problem with the highest prevalence in the developing countries. One of the most vulnerable groups is 6-24 months of age. NFHS-3 survey shows that the incidence of anemia in children aged 6-35 months is 79.2% with 72.7% in urban areas and 81.2% in rural areas. First stage of iron deficiency is depletion of iron stores, which is reflected by decreased serum ferritin levels and increased total iron binding capacity (TIBC) levels. The objective of this study was to detect presence of iron deficiency in children even before clinical appearance of anemia by measuring serum ferritin levels.Methods: The study was conducted from March 2017 to November 2017 in the Department of Pediatrics of Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad General Hospital, a tertiary level hospital and government medical college, Vadodara. A cross sectional study was done in which a total of 111 asymptomatic infants and toddlers in age group of 6-24 months presenting to well-baby clinic were enrolled randomly. Haemoglobin, RBC indices and serum ferritin levels were estimated. The children were classified into mild, moderate and severe anaemia according to their haemoglobin levels. Correlation with their serum ferritin levels was carried out by using statistical analysis.Results: Prevalence of anaemia (Hb <11gm/dl) was 84.14% in 6-12 months age group, 81.25% in 13-18 months age group and 84.61% in case of 19-24 months age group. Overall 83.78% of infants and toddlers were found to be anemic among 6-24 months age group. 55 infants (49.54%) among 111 infants had mild anaemia, 29 infants (26.12%) had moderate anaemia, 9 infants (8.1%) had severe anaemia. Majority of children (87 of 111 infants) had microcytic and hypochromic RBCs in their peripheral smear examination. 78 infants (72.07%)) had low serum Ferritin levels while only 31 infants had normal ferritin levels which is statistically significant (p=0.0084). Out of these, 4 infants had normal hemoglobin level.Conclusions: Anaemia is highly prevalent in the age group of 6 to 24 months even in otherwise healthy infants. Serum ferritin level is a good indicator of iron deficiency in children.
ABSTRACT
Background: Thalassemia major is a chronic hematological disorder. Regular blood transfusion is the only modality of long-term survival for these patients. This leads to iron overload, the heart being the most severely affected organ. The gold standard for detecting myocardial iron deposition is cardiac MRI. However, very few patients can afford this investigation. Hence, authors carried out this study to find out whether early iron overload can be detected by echocardiography which is a simple and less expensive tool. The objective of this study was to document echocardiographic changes of cardiac iron overload in patients of thalassemia major even before appearance of symptoms.Methods: A comparative cohort study conducted from January 2018 to October 2018 in the Department of Paediatrics of SSG Hospital, and Government Medical College, Vadodara. The case group consisted of 35 patients of Thalassemia major. 35 age and sex matched normal children were selected as controls. Relevant blood investigations were performed in cases. 2-Dimensional M-Mode Echocardiography was performed in both patients and controls. Thalassemia major patients were compared to normal healthy children for various parameters in echocardiography indicating the systolic and diastolic function. Proportion and percentage were calculated for descriptive analysis. Independent t-Test was applied between two groups to find out significance level.Results: For all parameters except End systolic volume and fractional shortening, p values were less than 0.05 which is significant. 85% (30/35) had increase in interventricular septal dimensions (IVSD), 97%(34/35) had increase in posterior wall dimensions (PWD),' 82%(29/35) had' increased left ventricular internal diameter diastole(LVIDD), 88%(31/35) had increased left ventricular internal diameter systole (LVIDS), 80%(28/35) had increased E/A RATIO .Ejection fraction was affected in 77%(27/35).This shows that patients of thalassemia major have significant cardiac dysfunction; possibly because of cardiac iron overload.Conclusions: Echocardiography is an effective tool for screening cardiac iron overload in patients of thalassemia major and should be done periodically in all patients.