Assessing Liver Function in Beta-Thalassemia Patients: Exploring Blood Transfusion-Related Complications

Aim and objective: To find out the proportion of transfusion reaction symptoms of beta-thalassemia in paediatric age group patients and to estimate the biochemical parameters of liver functions and correlate them with serum ferritin levels. Material and method: The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 120 children with known beta thalassemia aged between 2-12 years on repeated blood transfusion. A thorough clinical examination with particular importance on the presence of pallor, jaundice, and signs of thalassemic features was done. An abdominal examination was done to rule out hepatosplenomegaly. Blood samples were collected for appropriate investigations including serum ferritin level, transferrin saturation, and liver function test. Results: In this study, 27.5% and 72.5% of children belonged to the 2-5 years and 6-12 years age category respectively. The majority of study subjects were male (65.33%). The incidence of jaundice, ascites, and hepatomegaly was found to be 90.83%, 36.67%, and 100% respectively. The incidence of jaundice, ascites, and hepatomegaly are more common in older age children. A significant positive correlation was found between serum ferritin and total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, and SGPT (P