The Incidence of cholelithiasis in Thalassemic Patients of Sari in 1995

Background and

There are many cases of Thalassemia major in mazandaran province, and cholelithiasis is a known complication of all hemolytic anemias. Ïn order to evaluate the incidence of this complication in Thalassemia patients of Sari city, a descriptive study was designed and performed in two hundred thalassemia patients referred to Thalassemia control center.

The assessments were done by Ültrasonography by two radiologists. GË machine RT 2800 model of Ültrasound was used. The patients were such as kept in 14 hours fasting condition. Ïn sonography the informations such as liver size and Ëchogenecity, the shape and size of gall bladder wall, portal system, bile ducts spleen and portal system, as well as, sex and age were registered. The patients with previous history of stone formation along with cholelilithiasis were considered as positive.

The total incidence of stone formation was 14% (15.4% in females and 11.5% in males) in these patients. There was a correlation between the incidence of cholelithiasis with increase in age of the patient. Çonclusion: Due to the high incidence of this complication in thalassemic patients, it is recommended to include Ültrasonography in routine examinations of these patients, in order to prevent such complications in the thalassemic patients.