Liver disease in chelated transfusion-dependent thalassemics: the role of iron overload and chronic hepatitis C.
Haematologica
; 93(8): 1243-6, 2008 Aug.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-18556410
ABSTRACT
Iron overload and hepatitis virus C infection cause liver fibrosis in thalassemics. In a monocentric retrospective analysis of liver disease in a cohort of 191 transfusion-dependent thalassemics, in 126 patients who had undergone liver biopsy (mean age 17.2 years; 58 hepatitis virus C-RNA positive and 68 hepatitis virus C-RNA negative) the liver iron concentration (median 2.4 mg/gr dry liver weight) was closely related to serum ferritin levels (R = 0.58; p<0.0001). Male gender (OR 4.12) and serum hepatitis virus C-RNA positivity (OR 11.04) were independent risk factors for advanced liver fibrosis. The majority of hepatitis virus C-RNA negative patients with low iron load did not develop liver fibrosis, while hepatitis virus C-RNA positive patients infected with genotype 1 or 4 and iron overload more frequently developed advanced fibrosis. Hepatitis virus C infection is the main risk factor for liver fibrosis in transfusion-dependent thalassemics. Adequate chelation therapy usually prevents the development of liver fibrosis in thalassemics free of hepatitis virus C-infection and reduces the risk of developing severe fibrosis in thalassemics with chronic hepatitis C.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Talassemia
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Sobrecarga de Ferro
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Hepatite C Crônica
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Reação Transfusional
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Incidence_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Haematologica
Ano de publicação:
2008
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Itália