Abstract
Hypertriglyceridemia has been rarely described with thalassemia, an entity called hypertriglyceridemia-thalassemia syndrome. The authors describe a young infant diagnosed with thalassemia major with severe hypertriglyceridemia. The presence of severe hypertriglyceridemia in this child which rapidly resolved after transfusion, probably suggests a self limited mechanism which may not require therapy. Though hypertriglyceridemia has been reported with hemolytic anemias, the mechanism is unclear. This case illustrates that thalassemia may be associated with hypertriglyceridemia; once familial and secondary causes are ruled out, clinicians may wait for spontaneous resolution before considering specific therapy.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Dr Renu Saxena from the Centre for Medical Genetics, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi for the beta globin gene analysis.
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LD was involved in patient management and preparation of the initial draft. MS, US, DB and RRD were involved in patient management, preparation and final approval of the manuscript. RRD will act as guarantor for the paper.
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Das, L., Samprathi, M., Shukla, U. et al. Hypertriglyceridemia Thalassemia Syndrome: Common Disease, Uncommon Association. Indian J Pediatr 83, 720–722 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-016-2062-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-016-2062-x