Objective: Hypothyroidism usually appears in the second decade of
life and is thought to be associated with iron overload in patients
with thalassemia major. This study aimed to evaluate thyroid
dysfunctions in patients with beta-thalassemia major and to see if they
appear in the earlier period of life. Methods: Thyroid function and
iron load status were evaluated in 90 children with a mean age of
7.17±3.78 years with beta-thalassemia major by measuring serum
free thyroxin (FT4), serum free triiodothyronine (FT3), total thyroxin
(T3), serum total triiodothyronine (T4), thyroid-stimulating hormone
(TSH) and ferritin levels from serum of patients admitted to the
Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine University of Dicle between
March 2005 and July 2009. A control group formed from an age-sex
matched healthy children with a mean age of 6.98±3.66 years was
also included. A standard thyrotropin releasing hormone test was
applied to 3 patients who had high TSH levels and were classified as
subclinical primer hypothyroidism. The study was designed according to
the Declaration of Helsinki and informed consent was obtained from the
parents of all participants. Findings: All thyroid parameters in
patients were in the normal ranges compared with the controls except
three of them which had high TSH levels. Serum ferritin level
(2703±1649 ng/mL) in patients was significantly higher than in
controls (81.5±15.5 ng/mL). Conclusion: The work implies that
hypothyroidism could be even seen in the first decade of life in
patients with beta-thalassemia major in spite of improved hematological
cares
