Iron Overload and Growth Velocity in Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Anemia

Iron overload impaired growth in Thalassemia patients due to iron deposition in the endocrine glands, including the hypophysis and gonads. The issue of iron overload in Sickle Cell Anemia is recently studied more extensively and preliminary studies shows that endocrine damage is rarer in those patients. Growth velocity was not systematically studied in patients with Iron Overload, even in thalassemia patients in spite several studies that assess the endocrine function in those patients. In Sickle Cell Patients this issue was not studied. The purpose of this study is to assess the growth velocity in a cohort of Thalassemia Major and Intermedia patients and compare the results to another group of Sickle Cell patients, including Sickle cell thalassemia.