Amr I. Risha, Mervat A. Hesham, Usama R. Elsafy, Yosria A. El Taweel, Mohammed M. Omar, Sara F. Saadawy, Diana Hanna
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Neurological complications, including peripheral polyneuropathy, have been reported in β-thalassemia patients that negatively impact their quality of life. Chronic hypoxia, iron overload, average age, and iron chelators-induced neurotoxicity might contribute to the development of neuropathy. However, the leading offender of this complication remains not clear. We aimed to study the frequency and potential risk factors of polyneuropathy in β-thalassemia patients. We performed a cross-section study on 150 transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia major patients with a mean age of 16.44 ± 3.32 years. We performed electrophysiological studies for motor and sensory nerves. We found that 31.3% of cases had neurological manifestations with significant relation to age, duration of the disease, and frequent transfusion. Out of 47 patients with neurological manifestations, 12 (25.5%) had abnormal nerve conduction velocity (NCV). Abnormal median, peroneal, and tibial nerve motor amplitudes were detected in 10.6%, 10.6%, and 14.9% of patients respectively. Abnormal median, peroneal, and sural nerve sensory amplitudes were detected in 4.3%, 2.2%, and 10.6% of patients respectively. Apart from a significant relation between abnormal NCV and older ages, no significant relation was detected with other studied clinical and laboratory parameters. We detected a high frequency of motor and sensory polyneuropathy in B-thalassemia patients. Polyneuropathy was predominately detected in older ages highlighting that neuropathy in thalassemia patients is probably age-dependent. Other factors including disease duration, transfusion frequency, and iron overload might have a contributing effect, however, that could not be confirmed in this study. Further studies are needed to verify the frequency and predictors of polyneuropathy in B-thalassemia patients.
期刊介绍:
The Gazette is the official journal of the Egyptian Pediatric Association. The main purpose of the Gazette is to provide a place for the publication of high-quality papers documenting recent advances and new developments in both pediatrics and pediatric surgery in clinical and experimental settings. An equally important purpose of the Gazette is to publish local and regional issues related to children and child care. The Gazette welcomes original papers, review articles, case reports and short communications as well as short technical reports. Papers submitted to the Gazette are peer-reviewed by a large review board. The Gazette also offers CME quizzes, credits for which can be claimed from either the EPA website or the EPA headquarters. Fields of interest: all aspects of pediatrics, pediatric surgery, child health and child care. The Gazette complies with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals as recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).