title: Endocrine complications in patients of beta thalassemia major in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the major endocrine complications present in patients of Thalassemia major presenting to a tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan.
  
  
  METHODS
  Records of all thallasemia major patients at a Haematology Department in a tertiary care hospital of Karachi were retrospectively reviewed from May to August 2009 with specific focus on endocrine data and investigations. The patients' data was recorded in a questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS v.17, frequencies and percentages along with corresponding 95% confidence interval were computed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our data revealed that a significantly small percentage of those under care received regular endocrine follow-up. Male hypo-gonadal abnormalities had the highest probability; 100% of the tested patients had decreased levels of testosterone, while 95.2% had raised serum creatinine levels. Parathyroid dysfunction was noted in 40% of the patients. Of those screened 29.4% had blood glucose levels in the diabetic range and 11.8% of the tested patients had reduced levels of FT4.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high frequency at endocrine dysfunctions seen in thalasaemia patients included: male hypogonadism, parathyroid dysfunction, deranged blood glucose and FT4 levies.
authors: Section of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors: Amina
authors: A
authors: Adil
authors: Zain A
authors: ZA
authors: Sobani
authors: Abdul
authors: A
authors: Jabbar
authors: Salman N
authors: SN
authors: Adil
authors: Safia
authors: S
authors: Awan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004700:Endocrine System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000150:complications*