2.1. Patients

This study was conducted between July 2018 and August 2019 enrolling a total of 159 β-thalassemia intermedia patients from 114 registered families at the Sulaymaniyah Thalassemia Care Center through random selection from the targeted population to avoid bias. All medical files of these patients were reevaluated. The diagnostic criteria were based on (i) age at diagnosis or initiation of transfusion ≥ 2 years, (ii) maintain hemoglobin ≥ 7 − 7.5 g/dL, and (iii) intermittent transfusion requirements [10, 11].

The study was approved by the ethical committee at the College of Medicine, University of Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, and informed consent was obtained from all enrollees.