A study of serum ferritin in beta thalassemia. Iron deficiency and overload.

Serum ferritin, serum iron, and unsaturated iron binding capacity were studied in 64 patients with beta homozygous thalassemia (BHT), 120 patients with beta heterozygous thalassemia, and 46 normal subjects. Incidence of iron overload seen in 32 BHT cases was similar in untransfused and transfused cases. Among heterozygotes, iron stores were depleted in 24 (20%), mostly females (70.8%). Only male heterozygotes but not normals were iron deficient. In 18 (75%) heterozygotes with depleted iron stores, transferrin saturation (TS) was normal. It was also normal in 8 (25%) BHT patients and 5 (100%) heterozygotes with iron overload. In 13 (35.1%) BHT patients, it was raised in the absence of iron overload. It was concluded that iron deficiency in heterozygotes is of greater magnitude, especially in females, than hitherto known in India. Transferrin saturation is not a good indicator of either iron depletion or overload. Iron supplementation is recommended in heterozygous beta thalassemia in infants, children, and expectant mothers in geographic areas with high incidence of iron deficiency.