TY - JOUR AU - Bourisly, maha AU - Bourhama, M. AU - Obaid, M.A. AU - Basili, N. PY - 2017/03/15 TI - Iron overload in children with leukaemia: Experience of The Only Department of Pediatric Hematology Oncology in Kuwait JF - Medical Research Archives; Vol 5 No 3 (2017): Vol.5 Issue 3, March 2017 KW - ALL, iron overload, blood transfusion N2 - Children with leukaemia are prone to severe anaemia due to the disease itself and the medication; they usually receive multiple blood transfusions throughout their treatment when they develop severe anaemia as a side effect of the disease and chemotherapy received. This is an observational cross-sectional study of 50 children who were diagnosed with leukaemia and treated at NBK paediatric haematology and oncology department, Sabah hospital. The aim of this study was to see whether intense chemotherapy affects the amount of blood transfusions received, hence leading to iron overload. Serum ferritin level was tested in each patient who were at different stages of treatment (after parents' consent). Forty-four children were receiving their chemotherapy at the time of sampling and were at different stages of their treatment, whereas six children have already completed their chemotherapy in accordance to their chemotherapy treatment protocol. Serum ferritin level was observed to be increasing as the patient progress in treatment. The risk of the disease and multiple blood transfusions might lead to increased level of serum ferritin level (multiple correlation coefficient 0.664, coefficient of determination =38%) however they were not only the only determinant of the iron overload. Most children have received multiple blood transfusions by the end of chemotherapy treatment protocol (p=0.001).   Iron overload has an accumulative effect that can still be clearly seen towards the end of chemotherapy protocol. UR - https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/1107