Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with thalassaemia categorised based on T2* CMR
| Variables | Normal T2* CMR (>20 ms) n=87, mean±SD | Mild to moderate T2* CMR (10–20 ms) n=55, mean±SD | Severe T2* CMR (<10 ms) n=153, mean±SD | P value |
| Age (years) | 16.6±5.8 | 16.6±5.8 | 18.6±5.8 | 0.01 |
| Height (cm) | 147.4±19.9 | 138.9±12.7 | 142.7±18.2 | 0.04 |
| Weight (kg) | 39.8±15.1 | 33.3±10 | 38.1±12.6 | 0.02 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 18.1±3.3 | 16.5±3.4 | 18.1±3.8 | 0.07 |
| NYHA class* | 0.18 | |||
| Class 1 | 14 (16) | 7 (12) | 13 (8.5) | |
| Class 2 | 19 (22) | 11 (20) | 34 (22) | |
| Class 3 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 5 (3) | |
| Class 4 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 3 (2) | |
| Hepatomegaly* | 13 (15) | 12 (22) | 45 (29) | 0.06 |
| Splenomegaly* | 23 (26) | 18 (33) | 55 (36) | 0.35 |
| Presence of infections* | ||||
| HBV | 1 (0.01) | 1 (0.02) | 0 (0) | – |
| HCV | 1 (0.01) | 1 (0.02) | 5 (3.2) | |
| HIV | 2 (0.02) | 2 (0.04) | 1 (0.6) | |
| Seizures* | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.7) | – |
| Laboratory parameters | ||||
| Ferritin (ng/mL) | 4880±4982 | 5110±3597 | 6721±4839 | 0.02 |
| Pretransfusion haemoglobin (g/dL) | 9.2±0.7 | 8.9±0.6 | 9.4±0.7 | 0.33 |
| Echocardiographic parameters | ||||
| Ejection fraction (%) | 61.5±4.4 | 60.7±9.1 | 61.3±7.4 | 0.85 |
| E:E’ | 8.6±2.4 | 8.1±2.0 | 9.1±2.2 | 0.07 |
| Mitral E:A ratio | 1.7±1.02 | 1.7±0.4 | 1.7±0.6 | 0.91 |
| Transfusion (years) | 13.07±5.9 | 12.2±3.4 | 15.8±5.8 | 0.01 |
| Transfusion frequency (per month) | 1.62±7.6 | 2.2±1.8 | 1.9±0.7 | 0.005 |
| Chelation drugs* | 0.13 | |||
| DFO | 31 (36) | 16 (29) | 73 (48) | |
| DFX | 25 (29) | 19 (34.5) | 38 (25) | |
| DFP | 8 (9) | 7 (12.7) | 11 (7) |
*Reported as n (%).
BMI, body mass index; DFO, deferoxamine; DFP, deferiprone DFX, deferasirox; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; NYHA, New York Heart Association; T2* CMR, T2* cardiac MRI.