Survival, mortality, and complications in patients with β-thalassemia major in northern Taiwan

Background. Advances in treatment have improved the prognosis in β-thalassemia major. We present the survival and complications pattern of those patients in northern Taiwan born after 1970. Procedure. One-hundred and sixty patients with β-thalassemia major born after 1970 were collected. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used to estimate and compare survival. Cox regression models were used to examine the associations of bone marrow transplantation (BMT), time of BMT procedure, and time of complications with survival. Results. Better survival was observed for patients born after 1980 (P=0.0121). Heart disease, BMT-related deaths, and infections were the main causes of death. Among the living patients over age 15, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, HCV infection, diabetes, heart failure, and arrhythmia were the common complications. No patients under age 15 had complications. Conclusions. Survival for patients with β-thalassemia major has improved significantly in Taiwan. More time is required to demonstrate whether these modalities added to the treatment of these patients will impact favorably on their outcome. Our success with BMT is improving and we are now in a position to offer this curative alternative.