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Ocular abnormalities in beta thalassemia patients: prevalence, impact, and management strategies

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Abstract

Background

Beta thalassemia (β-thalassemia) is a hereditary disease caused by defective globin synthesis and can be classified into three categories of minor (β-TMi), intermedia (β-TI), and major (β-TM) thalassemia. The aim of our study is to investigate the effects of β-thalassemia and its treatment methods on different parts of the eye and how early-diagnostic methods of ocular complications in this disorder would prevent further ocular complications in these patients by immediate treatment and diet change.

Methods

We developed a search strategy using a combination of the words Beta thalassemia, Ocular abnormalities, Iron overload, chelation therapy to identify all articles from PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar up to December 2018. To find more articles and to ensure that databases were thoroughly searched, the reference lists of selected articles were also reviewed.

Results

Complications such as retinopathy, crystalline lens opacification, color vision deficiency, nyctalopia, depressed visual field, reduced visual acuity, reduced contrast sensitivity, amplitude reduction in a-wave and b-wave in Electroretinography (ERG), and decrease in the Arden ratio in Electrooculography (EOG) have all been reported in β-thalassemia patients undergoing chelation therapy.

Conclusion

Ocular problems due to β-thalassemia may be a result of anemia, iron overload in the body tissue, side effects of iron chelators, and the complications of orbital bone marrow expansion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

    Samira Heydarian

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

    Reza Jafari & Kiumars Nowroozpoor Dailami

  3. Noor Research Center for Ophthalmic Epidemiology, Noor Eye Hospital, Tehran, Iran

    Hassan Hashemi

  4. Department of Optometry, Rehabilitation Faculty, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Ebrahim Jafarzadehpour

  5. Department of Optometry, School of Paramedical Sciences, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Mohsen Heirani

  6. Refractive Errors Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Abbasali Yekta

  7. Health Promotion Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran

    Monireh Mahjoob

  8. Department of Psychiatric Nursing and Management, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mehdi Khabazkhoob

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  1. Samira Heydarian
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Heydarian, S., Jafari, R., Dailami, K.N. et al. Ocular abnormalities in beta thalassemia patients: prevalence, impact, and management strategies. Int Ophthalmol 40, 511–527 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-019-01189-3

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