Correlation of Liver Function Test with Different Age and Sex Group and with Ferritin Level in Thalassemia

Abstract

Thalassemia is the most common genetic blood disease in the world and varies in different population group

in the world. In thalassemic patients liver damage is augmented when age of the patients are increase. These

are due to increasing age with advancement of disease progression, repeated blood transfusion, less use/

intolerance of iron chelating agent, decreased activity of hepatocyte to rescue them in such excess billirubin

and iron flood. Secondary to hypersplenism.

Iron overload due to frequent transfusions in ?-thalassemia results in abnormal organ function tests. Proper

and timely screening of these parameters can help in early diagnosis & prevention of iron overload. Iron

overload is a main leading cause of elevated liver enzymes, and presence of HCV infection is significantly

related to the increased iron overload14. Liver injury whether acute or chronic, eventually results in an

increase in serum concentrations of Alanine transaminase (ALT) and Aspartate transaminase (AST). In

transfusion dependent thalassemia patients iron overload is often inevitable and exposed to transfusion

associated infections. Apart from these when the age is more, the disease progresses with their complication

like hepatic injury. The thalassemia patient develops liver fibrosis as a result of iron overload due to excessive

blood transfusion and also from excess intestinal absorption. N Sultana et al.6 showed that serum ferritin and

serum bilirubin parameter of iron over load and jaundice are correlated.