Thalassemia patients succumb at a young age to congestive heart failure. Hitherto, attention
has been focused on left ventricular function. This report emphasizes right ventricular
dysfunction and abnormal pulmonary function. We performed cardiopulmonary evaluation,
including echo-Doppler, spirometry, CO diffusion (Dco), and blood gas analyses in 35
patients with homozygous beta-thalassemia maintained by multiple blood transfusions. Six
autopsy lung specimens were studied. Thalassemia patients exhibited pulmonary …