Evaluation of Prevalence of Ocular Disorders and Factors Affecting it in Thalassemia Major (TM) Patients, referring to Shushtar Alhadi Hospital in 2017

Thalassemia major is one of the most common hereditary diseases and an important health problem. The use of chelating drugs such as DESFERAL can be associated with ocular complications (cataracts and vision loss). The study aimed to determine the prevalence of ocular disorders and the effectiveness factors such as age, sex, ferritin, hemoglobin, the dose and duration of treatment with DESFERAL in thalassemia major patients referring to Shushtar Alhadi hospital in 2017.Materials and Methods:This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 36 patients with at least a 2- year use of DESFERAL and no underlying disease. Complete Ophthalmological examinations, such as fundoscopy, best-corrected vision, color vision and visual field examination were done by the ophthalmologist. Also, DESFERAL drug dose, and amount of hemoglobin and ferritin were recorded on the basis of tests performed before the examination. Data were analyzed by using ANOVA in SPSS16.Results:The patients mean age was 22.10 ± 91.37 and 24 patients (66.7%) were female. The most inferiority disorder was observed in 11 patients (30%) and the least was related to combined disorders: cataract, color vision (2 patients, 5%), and 17 patients (49%) had more than two ocular disorders and 6 patients (16%) were healthy. In studying the variables affecting eye defects, it was found that ferritin and the number of years consuming DESFERAL with cataract (P = 0.001) and hemoglobin with cataract (P = 0.003) had a statistically significant relationship. Also, a significant relationship existed between age with combined disorder (cataract, retina, color vision) (P = 0.012). However, no significant relationship was seen between DESFERAL dosage and ocular disorders (p = 0.094).Conclusion:Since consumption of DESFERAL accompanied by an increase in the years of consumption is associated with Ophthalmic disorders, follow up of periodic ocular examinations is necessary to prevent these disorders.

Keywords:

Thalassemia , Ocular Disorders , DESFERAL