Research Article 
Hulal Saleh Sahib¹*, Suzan Sabber Mutlag
Abstract
Thalassemia is an autosomal recessive blood disorder which has a life-long implication in both patients and their families. This study was performed at Al-Diwaniya maternity and children teaching hospital from the 1st of October 2016 to the 1st of January 2017. The total number of patients involved in our study were one-hundred three, all of them were diagnosed with ß – thalassemia major, were subjected to frequent blood transfusion and were on chelating agent. Both patients groups were evaluated with full history (age, gender, time of diagnosis, the rate of transfusion per year, the type and dose of the chelating agent), and were examined for their weight, height and BMI, serum ferritin was also performed for all of them. There was a significant difference in mean age and height of patients on desferal and those on exjade. The rate of transfusion was significantly greater in the group of patients treated with desferal. Serum ferritin was significantly higher in patients treated with desferal than patients treated with exjade. There was a significant correlation between gender of patients and serum ferritin in the group of patients treated with desferal, also there was a significant negative correlation between the dose of the drug and serum ferritin in those treated with exjade.
Keywords: Growth retardation; Thalassemia; Desferal