1.İntroduction
Thalassemia is one of the most common genetic disorders worldwide (1). According to the severity, beta thalassemia major (β-TM) is the most severe form; and affected patients exhibit symptoms within the first year of life and requires lifelong regular blood transfusion therapy for survival (2). Because standard transfusion therapy adds 0.32-0.64 mg/kg/day of iron to the body and causes iron overload, patients need adequate iron-chelating treatment to prevent its progressive accumulation in different organs, including the cardiovascular system (3). However, cardiovascular involvement and deterioration in endothelial function cannot be completely overcome even with iron chelation therapy guided by accurate and strict monitoring. Ultimately, the cardiovascular condition caused by iron overload remains the leading cause of death in β-TM patients (4,5). Therefore, the early detection of conditions caused by cardiovascular iron overload is an important clinical need to prevent or diagnose and treat complications, improve prognosis (6).
In this study, we aimed to identify subclinical predictors of cardiovascular involvement like left ventricular systolic dyssynchrony index (SDI), flow mediated dilatation (FMD) and aortic strain in patients with β-TM.