Abstract:
Thalassemia is a genetic disorder associated with reduced production rate of either a
single or more globin chains in the haemoglobin. Thalassemia is divided into two main types, alpha (α)
thalassemia and beta (β) thalassemia. The aim of this study was to determine antithrombin III level in
diagnosed patients of beta thalassemia major. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at
Sheikh Zayed Hospital Lahore from Jan 2014 to Jan 2015. The sample size was 100 including 50
healthy controls and 50 patients with β thalassemia major. Antithrombin III assay was done with
Chromogenic determination of Antithrombin (AT) on an auto analyzer. Results: Mean age
splenectomized group was 9.1±2.2 years and that for non-splenectomized and control group was
6.5±2.9. The mean antithrombin III level for the splenectomized group was 66.0±8.9% and that for
non-splenectomized and control group was 78.6±9.6 and 91.9±4.7 respectively. The overall mean
antithrombin III level for cases was 75.8±10.7. The differences for antithrombin III level were
significant (p<0.001). The splenectomized group also had significantly lower antithrombin III level as
compared to the non-splenectomized group (p=0.001). Conclusion: Antithrombin III level is
significantly affected in thalassemia. A considerable difference was observed in antithrombin III levels
of splenectomized and non-splenectomized patients
