Aswad Hasan Abdullah, Haleem Azad Abduljabar, Eissaa Adil Abozaid
Pediatric Hematology Oncology Center, Duhok General Directorate of Health, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Duhok City, Iraq.
Department of Pedaitrics, College of Medicine, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Duhok City, Iraq.
Int J Hematol. 2025 Sep 19. doi: 10.1007/s12185-025-04067-0.
This study investigated late renal, liver, endocrine, and cardiac outcomes in 52 Kurdish children aged 7-18 years who underwent bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for β-thalassemia major (β-TM). Boys had higher levels of hemoglobin and alkaline phosphatase than girls. Conversely, girls exhibited higher levels of SGPT, ferritin, T4, and eGFR. In all patients, BUN (71.15%), ALP (100%), PT (96.15%), TSB (34.62%), and serum ferritin (48.08%) were elevated, while Hb (57.69%) and serum creatinine (42.31%) were lower than normal. At ages 1-5, 6-10, and 11-15 years, patients had significantly lower serum ferritin (1053.0, 212.0, and 105.05; p = 0.0004) and SGOT (30.0, 22.0, and 26.50; p = 0.0231) levels. Echocardiography showed normal heart function in 47 patients (90.39%), with minor abnormalities observed in only 9.61%. The mean eGFR was 89.70 (SD: 22.93), with girls showing a significantly higher average (98.83) than boys (72.70; p < 0.0001). Kidney function was most often mildly decreased (55.77%), followed by normal/increased (40.39%), and mild-to-moderately decreased (3.85%). Girls were more likely to have normal/ increased kidney function (61.54%), while boys predominantly had mildly decreased kidney function (76.92%) with no significant difference between ages in all patients. Most of the children with β-TM had mildly decreased kidney function and higher liver function test values.