Objectives: To assess pubertal development and its determinants in adolescents with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT).
Methods: In this cross-sectional study from a tertiary teaching hospital in Delhi, records of adolescents aged 17-19 years with TDT on regular transfusion at thalassemia day-care centre were reviewed. Pubertal development and its determinants were assessed.
Results: Records of 58 (33 male) adolescents with TDT were reviewed. Among them, 42 (72.4%) had normal/delayed onset with spontaneous progression of puberty, while 16 (27.6%) had pubertal arrest/failure and received hormonal replacement therapy (HRT). Short stature was observed in all adolescents on HRT. Amongst other endocrinopathies, only hypoparathyroidism was found to be significantly higher in the HRT group. On multivariate analysis, serum ferritin (OR-1.005, 95% CI 1.002, 1.009) was observed to be the only significant determinant of pubertal arrest/failure.
Conclusions: A significant proportion of adolescents with TDT continue to have pubertal arrest/failure. High systemic iron load is the key determinant for this.