The Adverse Effects of Thalassemia Treatments Including Blood Transfusion and Main Pharmacological Therapies

Background: beta-thalassemia major (b-tm) is a disorder which needs lifelong blood transfusions. our aim was to examine the treatments side effects in thalassemic patients. methods: 110 b-tm patients attending two centers were invited to the study. those who consented were asked to complete a questionnaire. the questionnaire covered demographical information, used medications and their side effects. the data was analyzed using spss software version 14. results: data was collected between august 2008 and july 2009. patients' age was 14.0±1.32 years. the duration of treatment was 11.3±7.5 years. thalassemic patients received blood transfusions, deferoxamine and supportive medications. number of medications, received by patients was 3.9±1.9. hemosiderosis in heart (11%) and endocrine system (8%) were main blood transfusion side effects. a few had hepatitis b or c. conclusion: because of prevalence of side effects of therapies, reviewing and improving treatment protocol by designing new medicines with lower side effects and establishment of an adverse reactions team seemed necessary.