Vascular endothelial growth factor and pulmonary hypertension in children with beta thalassemia major

• Autor(a) principal: Alkholy,Usama M.
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Mohamed,Soma Abdalla, Elhady,Marwa, Attar,Shahinaz El, Abdalmonem,Nermin, Zaki,Ahmed
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Jornal de Pediatria (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0021-75572019000600593
• topic: Pulmonary hypertension; Vascular endothelial growth factor; β-Thalassemia

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to illustrate the association between vascular endothelial growth factor level and pulmonary artery hypertension in children with β-thalassemia major. Method: This case-control study was conducted on 116 children with β-thalassemia major; 58 of them had pulmonary artery hypertension. They were compared to 58 healthy children who were age and sex-matched (control group). Serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor and echocardiographic assessment were done for all children. Results: Vascular endothelial growth factor serum level was significantly higher in children with β-thalassemia major with pulmonary artery hypertension than in those without pulmonary artery hypertension, as well as in control groups (p < 0.001). Vascular endothelial growth factor serum level had a significant positive correlation with pulmonary artery pressure and serum ferritin, as well as a significant negative correlation with the duration of chelation therapy. Logistic regression analysis revealed that elevated vascular endothelial growth factor (Odd Ratio = 1.5; 95% Confidence Interval, 1.137-2.065; p = 0.005) was an independent risk factor of pulmonary artery hypertension in such children. Vascular endothelial growth factor serum level at a cutoff point of >169 pg/mL had 93.1% sensitivity and 93.1% specificity for the presence of pulmonary artery hypertension in children with β-thalassemia major. Conclusion: Elevated vascular endothelial growth factor serum level is associated with pulmonary artery hypertension in children with β-thalassemia.