| Abstrakt: |
Background: Thromboembolic events have been recorded in Beta-Thalassemia Patients. Several etiologic factors may play a role in the pathogenesis of the hypercoagulable state in thalassemia among which is decreased levels of naturally occurring anticoagulants such as protein C, protein S and anti-thrombin III. Objective: To evaluate levels of naturally occurring anticoagulants in transfusion dependent beta-thalassemia patients and to assess the relationship between natural anticoagulants levels and the risk for thromboembolic complications among these patients. Patients and Methods: This case control study included 40 transfusion dependent beta-thalassemia patients and 40 healthy participants as controls. Patients were recruited and assessed for eligibility from Ain Shams University Haematology unit. Protein C%, anti-thrombin-III (AT III) % and protein S% levels were measured and their correlations to liver enzymes were evaluated. Results: The mean level of protein C (77.0%), protein S (79.50%) and AT III (90.0%) were significantly reduced in patients' group in comparison with control subjects (p-value <0.001). These findings were significantly positively corelated withthrombotic events, age, transfusion index, platelets count, serum ferritin, and aspartate transaminase (p<0.05). Type of the chelation therapy, splenectomy, T2 star liver, T2 star heart, serum creatinine and albumin did not affect significantly the serum levels of the studied natural anticoagulants (p>0.05). Conclusion: Natural anticoagulants namely protein C, protein S and anti-thrombin III were significantly reduced among transfusion dependent beta-thalassemic patients which seem to contribute to the increased risk of thromboembolic events in these patients. This study supports the use of early prophylactic anticoagulant therapy for this high-risk group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
