Cholelithiasis in Thalassemia Major Patients: A Report from the South-East of Iran

Background: cholelithiasis and its predisposing factors are less characterized in thalassemia syndromes. in the present study, we assessed the prevalence of gallstones and related-risk factors among thalassemia major (tm) patients in south-east of iran.materials and methods: the patients were recruited form a single center in zabol city, south-east of iran. demographic and clinical information were retrieved from medical histories. abdominal ultrasonography was performed to scrutinize gallstones and organ dimensions of liver, spleen, gallbladder and kidney.results: the study participants (n=127) consisted of 50 (39.4%) males and 77 (60.6%) females. the mean age of the patients was 15.2±7.9 years. cholelithiasis was observed in 11 (8.7%) patients. cholelithiasis was significantly associated with age (p=0.002) and splenectomy (p=0.001). the patients with cholelithiasis received a significantly higher blood volume than patients without cholelithiasis (546±108.7 ml and 425.1±134.7 ml, respectively, p=0.007). there were significant differences between cholelithiasis and non- cholelithiasis tm patients regarding the length of right and left liver lobes (p=0.001), as well as the length of gallbladder (p=0.006). ferritin level was not associated with cholelithiasis in our patients. in multivariate analysis, age older than 15 (or=10.4, 95% ci: 1.2-86.3, p=0.02) and 30 years old (or=42.6, 95% ci: 2.9-613, p=0.006), and splenectomy (or=8.7, 95% ci: 2.1-35.4, p=0.002) were significant risk factors for cholelithiasis.conclusion: cholelithiasis is a relatively common complication among tm patients in our region. the most prominent risk factors of cholelithiasis were advanced age, splenectomy and large-volume blood transfusion.