Background and Aim: Beta thalassemia is one of the most common single gene disorders in the world which occurs due to a defect in the beta globin chain synthesis. In general, the majority of the patients with thalassemia, are suffering from decreased bone density. Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mass and disorder of osteogenesis resulting in reduced bone strength. Considering the serious consequences of osteoporosis, this study was performed to evaluate the prevalence of osteoporosis in the patients with beta thalassemia major.

Materials and Methods: This study included 46 beta thalassemia patients above 5 years of age who had been admitted to the oncology ward of  Besat Hospital in Sanandaj. Chemical biomarkers were measured and the results of densitometry of the lumbar spine and femoral head were investigated for the presence of osteoporosis, osteopenia and normal findings. Using SPSS 20 software, we used one-way analysis of variance to assess the association between chemical biomarkers.

Results:  The mean (SD) age was 19.8 (7.7) years, 24 patients (52.2%) were women and 32 (69.6%) were above 15 years of age. In this study, the most frequent findings of densitometry were osteoporosis (34.8%) and normal lumbar spine (34.8%). Comparison between the chemical biomarkers and findings of the densitometry of the femoral head revealed different levels of ferritin in these patients (P = 0.011). This difference was observed in the patients who had osteoporosis and normal densitometry results (P = 0.009).

Conclusion: The results of this study showed no significant statistical relationship between chemical biomarkers and the densitometry results. Therefore, use of bisphosphonate is recommended for prevention of bone damage.

Keywords: Osteoporosis, Osteopenia, Thalassemia major, Biochemical marker, Densitometry, Sanandaj.

Received: Apr 25, 2015      Accepted: Aug 20, 2016