Peripheral Neuropathy: Not a Feature of Childhood Thalassemia

Abstract

Background: Chronic anemia in thalassemia patients may cause multiple complications such as bone deformities, growth retardation, and peripheral neuropathy. Aim: To examine the presence of possible electrophysiological changes in children diagnosed with thalassemia and to investigate the clinical factors affecting the electrophysiological findings in those children.
Subjects and Methods: A hospital based prospective study. This prospective study included 154 children, who were diagnosed as having thalassemia and 100 control cases. Demographic features and laboratory data were recorded. All cases were examined electrophysiologically using standard procedures.
Results: Totally 154 patients and 100 control cases were included in the study. Neurological examination did not indicate any abnormalities in any of the participants. Any evidence of large-fiber neuropathy was not present in any of the participants.
Conclusions: In this study, we did not find any cases with neuropathy. With these results we can conclude that, thalassemia at early stages is not a risk factor for polyneuropathy in thalassemia patients under follow-up.

Keywords: Thalassemia, Polyneuropathy, Electrophysiological studies, Child