Multicentre study on prevalence of fractures in transfusion-dependent thalassaemic patients.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of fractures in transfusion-dependent thalassaemic patients in Italy. Examination of the patients' records revealed that 193 of the 977 observed patients had sustained fractures, with prevalence of 19.7%. Many patients showed multiple and recurrent fractures. Children and adolescents sustained fractures more frequently than adults. The majority of observed patients sustained fractures because of moderate or mild trauma. Our results seem to indicate that Hb pretransfusional levels over 9 or 10 gr% and serum ferritin levels under 1,000 ng/ml cannot always prevent the risk of fracture.