Clinical Complications of Hemoglobinopathies in Western Saudi Arabia and the Need for Specialized Care Centers

Abstract

In the absence of specialized care centers for hemoglobinopathies in Saudi Arabia, there are insufficient data on prevalence of clinical complications in this population. This is a retrospective record review about the clinical complications associated with hemoglobinopathies at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, for patients followed between January 1st 2010 through June 30th 2016. A total of 349 patients were included, with a mean age of 25.45 years, including 266 with sickle cell disease and 80 with thalassemia. Of those receiving regular transfusions, 17.5% developed alloantibodies, 16.6% tested positive for hepatitis C virus antibodies and the mean ferritin level was 2487 ng/ml. Almost half of the patients were screened for renal disease, and more than 50% were found to have proteinuria. Of 203 patients with recent echocardiograms, 15.8% had pulmonary hypertension. Thirty-one (8.9%) patients died at a mean age of 28.5 years. In conclusion, the prevalence of disease related complications is high in hemoglobinopathies. Our results reiterate the need for specialized care hemoglobinopathy centers, which can further improve patient outcomes.

Biochemical Assessment of Iron Overload Effect on Human Organs (Liver, Heart, Brain) In Patients with Beta-Thalassemia Major and Thalassemia Intermediate

“…A previous study (Sewwandi Karunaratna et al, 2017) in SriLankan patients with β-thalassemia, was reported that patients' mean of serum ferritin concentration was significantly higher than control. Furthermore, the findings of this study was agreed with previous studies conducted in Saudi Arabia (Badawi et al, 2019), Pakistan (Riaz et al, 2011), and India (Mishra & Tiwari, 2013) and Egypt (Mathematics, 2016) The results of study were shown highly statistical significance increases of serum ALT and AST in the thalassemia major group 24.5 ± 22.5 and 40.5 ± 41.7, when compared with control group (15.1 ± 9.7 and 22 ± 8.9); P value were 0.026 and 0.017, respectively. These results were in agreement with a study conducted by (Kasarala & Tillmann, 2016), who proved that several biochemical markers, including AST, ALT, and albumin, are widely known to reflect hepatic function.…”

Assessment of Factors Associated with the Effectiveness of Premarital Screening for Hemoglobinopathies in the South of Saudi Arabia

“… 3 Individuals affected with inherited hemoglobinopathies are at high risk of anaemia, infections, pain, and can suffer from cardiac, endocrine and pulmonary complications leading to frequent need for hospitalisation. 4 , 5 Furthermore, the need to receive frequent blood transfusions may subject affected individuals to a higher risk of acquiring blood-borne disorders, such as hepatitis c. 6 …”