Table 1.

Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study population.

Variable	Number	Percent
Gender
Male	94	47.0
Female	106	53.0
Age
< 12 years	64	32.0
12–18 years	64	32.0
> 18 years	72	36.0
Diagnosis
Thalassemia major	148	74.0
Thalassemia intermedia	52	26.0
Age at start of transfusion
< 1 year	90	45.5
1–10 years	104	52.5
> 10 years	9	2.0
Spleen state
Splenectomized	118	59.0
Non splenectomized	82	41.0