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Review
. 2023 Apr;201(2):334-342.
doi: 10.1111/bjh.18631. Epub 2023 Jan 6.

β-Thalassemia in childhood: Current state of health in a high-income country

Caroline Donze  1 , Audrey Benoit  2 , Isabelle Thuret  1 , Cindy Faust  3 ; NaThalY Network  2 ; Alexandra Gauthier  2   4   5 , Julie Berbis  3 , Catherine Badens  2   6 , Valentine Brousse  2   7   8
Collaborators, Affiliations
Review

β-Thalassemia in childhood: Current state of health in a high-income country

Caroline Donze et al. Br J Haematol. 2023 Apr.

Abstract

β-thalassemia is an haemoglobinopathy characterized by a defective synthesis of the β-globin chain. To assess the current state of health of paediatric patients with β-thalassemia, data from the French national registry regarding children born between 2005 and 2020 with β-thalassemia intermedia (TI) or major (TM) were collected. A total of 237 patients (median age 7.1 years at last visit) were analysed, of whom 156 (65.8%) were born in France and 162 (68.4%) had a TM phenotype. The probability of survival for children with TM born in France was 98.3% at 15 years. Fifty-four (22.8%) children received a haematopoietic stem cell transplant with a success rate of 88.8%. Hepatic and cardiac iron overload monitoring in non-transplanted patients showed moderate overload in 15.7% (18/115) and 7.1% (7/99) of cases, respectively, while clinical complications were found in only 4 patients with TM (hepatic in 3 cases). At last visit, mean ferritinemia was 1293 ng/ml (±759). Overall, less than 10% of children underwent splenectomy. No significant impact of the disease on growth or academic achievement was observed. Deferasirox was the main first-line chelator, prescribed in 78.2% of cases, with side effects reported in 11.7% of instances.

Keywords: childhood; complications; epidemiology; health status; β-Thalassemia.

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References

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