European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Hemophilia is a hereditary X-linked recessive disorder that occurs due to either deficiency or absence of coagulation factor VIII (hemophilia A) or factor IX (hemophilia B). Hemophilia A is the commonest and is more likely to cause severe bleeding which occurs repetitively. These occult and apparent bleeding can predispose these patients to iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia. These patients suffer from frequent joint bleeds which results iniron accumulation in the synovium of their joints and causes local inflammatory changes. Aim and objectives: This study aims to assess the frequency of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia among pediatric patients with hemophilia A. The frequency has also been correlated with severity of hemophilia A in these patients, severity being classified on the basis of factor level as mild (6-40%), moderate (1-5%) and severe (<1%). Material and methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted for six months from January 2023 to June 2023 at our centre on 130 patients of hemophilia A. Data including demographic profile, complete blood counts and serum ferritin were collected and analysed. The correlation of serum ferritin with the disease severity was established. Results: Outof 130patients with hemophilia A all were male. Of these, 11% were cases of mild, 23% were cases of moderate and 66% were cases of severe hemophilia A. 53.84% patients had hemoglobin <11g% and 46.16% patients had hemoglobin ≥11g%. Out of 130 patients, there were 32 (24.6%) patients with serum ferritin <7ng/ml but Hb above 11g%, meaning they had iron deficiency (ID). While, 70 (53.84%) patients had low serum ferritin with low Hb, meaning they had iron deficiency anemia (IDA). 28 (21.56%) patients had normal Hb and serum ferritin levels. Conclusion:  Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia are usual problems among hemophilia patients and their frequency increases with the disease severity.