Early Detection of Iron Overload Cardiomyopathy in Transfusion Dependent Thalassemia Patients in Sulaimaniyah City, Iraq

Lifelong blood transfusion is recommended for patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT) that lead to iron overload and results in cardiomyopathy (CM). To assess the accuracy of several electrocardiographic (ECG) data in patients at high risk of arrhythmia, early detection of structural and functional changes in left atrium and ventricle using ECG and echocardiography (two dimensional, M-mode echocardiography along with Doppler studies), and to observe the correlations between plasma B-type atrial natriuretic peptide (BNP)/serum ferritin and ECG with Doppler as well as echocardiographic changes in patients with TDT. The current prospective case-control study included 75 TDT patients and 74 control subjects with the mean age of 9.55 and 9.93 years, respectively. Participants were assessed for the socio-demographic, physical examinations, serum ferritin, plasma BNP, ECG, 2D echocardiography, and tissue/pulse wave Doppler. The mean of serum ferritin and plasma BNP were significantly (p