GROWTH VELOCITY MONITORING OF THE EFFICACY OF DIFFERENT THERAPEUTIC PROTOCOLS IN A GROUP OF THALASSEMIC CHILDREN

Since intensive chelating therapy for thalassaemic children was introd uced, growth rates appear to have diminished. To investigate what fact ors were responsable we compared velocities of growth in length over a period of 1 year between groups distinguished by different strategies of treatment. Forty-two thalassaemic patients, 30 males aged 4-12 yea rs, and 12 females, 4-10 years old, were assigned from their current t reatment into subgroups based upon blood ferritin levels, daily dose o f deoferrioxamine and urinary zinc levels. Conclusion The results conf irm that a reduction in desferrioxamine results in greater growth. If blood ferritin is low, the change effect may be greater. Secondly, any zinc deficiency should be treated. The changes in treatment convert a growth velocity of -2 to -3 SDS to a velocity of about -1 SDS.