RESUMEN
Objective: Serum fasting lipid profile has been studied in various clinical spectrum of Beta (β)- thalassaemia syndrome. Premature cardiac impairment in thalassaemia major appears primarily due to iron accumulation and oxidative injury; however it might be a sequel of abnormal lipoprotein concentrations. The rational of this study is to analyse the serum fasting lipid profile in cardiovascular disease free β-thalassaemia major (β-TM) patients. Relationships with age, gender, haematological parameters, liver enzymes and serum ferritin were observed. Method: Fasting serum lipid levels, liver function test (LFT), complete blood count (CBC) and serum ferritin were measured in 36 patients with homozygous β-TM from March 2012 to March 2014. Patients were stratified into two groups, age ≤15 and >15 years, to determine the possible lipid profile distinction in relation to age. Results: 17 were males and 19 were females, with median age of 12.0 years. The mean total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) were 5.01±1.32 and 8.36±5.28 mmol/L respectively. High TG was detected in 36.1%, while high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) were markedly low, 0.98±0.51 and 2.35±1.22 mmol/L respectively. No statistically significant difference was noted between the two age groups. The median TC to HDL ratio (TC:HDL) was elevated, 5.7 (4.0). We established significant correlation of total bilirubin with TC (r=-0.4), HDL(r=-0.5) and LDL (r=-0.4) (P<0.05). Conclusion: Dyslipidaemia in β-TM patients is irrespective of age and gender including low HDL and high TC:HDL, whilst high TC:HDL may contribute as a significant risk marker for future cardiac events in these patients.