title: Complete heart block in thalassemia major: a case report.
abstract: Cardiac complications of iron overload are the most common cause of death in patients with thalassemia major. These complications include recurrent pericarditis, refractory congestive heart failure and rhythm disorders. The usual rhythm disturbances are supraventricular or ventricular premature contractions and first-or second-degree heart block. Complete heart block is a very rare complication of thalassemia major. Herein, we report a case of complete heart block with thalassemia major. The patient also had serious congestive heart failure. Management of the heart block with pacemaker brought no clinical improvement, and she died in the second month of hospitalization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Cukurova University, Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Osman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Küçükosmanoğlu
authors.forename: Nazan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ozbarlas
authors.forename: Ilgen
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saşmaz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004562:Electrocardiography; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006327:Heart Block / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology; D006486:Hemosiderosis / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000150:complications*