Endocrine Complications Of Polytransfused Beta- Thalassemia

¿-Thalassemia is a hereditary chronic hemolytic anemia characterized by a defect in the synthesis of beta-globin chains, particularly common in the Mediterranean region, southern Asia and the Middle East.Transfusion programs and chelation therapy have considerably prolonged the life expectancy of patients. This has led to an increase in the prevalence of cardiac, hepatic and endocrine complications linked to iron overload.Endocrine complications, through direct damage to glandular parenchyma or the hypothalamo-hypophyseal axis, lead to hypogonadism, short stature, hypothyroidism, hypoparathyroidism, glucose intolerance (GI) and diabetes mellitus.