Efficiency and Safety of Desferioxamine Chelation Therapy in Paediatric Patients with Transfusion-Dependent Anaemia: Experience of two Centres from Sudan

Background: Repeated blood transfusion is the main therapeutic option for transfusion-dependent anaemias with consequent iron overload and organ damage .Therefore iron chelating agents are important protective measures for these patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency and safety of Desferroxamine in paediatrics population subjected to iron overload as a consequence of repeated transfusion in a group of Sudanese children Subjects & Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional hospital based study. Conducted in two main paediatric reference hospitals in, Sudan. Within the period between November 2017 and April 2018 (6 months duration). The two centres were JaafarI bn- Oaf hospital and Albulk hospital. The study population included all patients of transfusion dependent anaemia who received desferrioxamine within the study period. Hundred patients were enrolled in the study. The study variables were demographic data, number of blood transfusions , serum ferritin pre and post blood transfusion and treatment of desferrioxamin Results: Sixty percent (60%) of the studied cases were males and 40% were females ,46% were thalassemic, 46% were sicklers, 5% aplastic anemia and 3% with red cell aplasia .The mean serum ferritin level before starting desferoxamine was 2.14 and after dessferoxamine was 2.48, P –value was highly significant. The most common side effect encountered was skin rash (36%) Conclusion: This study revealed some features of safety and efficiency of desferoxamine therapy in Sudanese paediatrics population affected by transfusion-dependent anemia. More studies are needed to describe this important health problem