Adherence and Satisfaction of Deferasiroxversus Deferoxamine in Transfusion-Dependent Beta-Thalassemia

Abstract

Objectives: The present study was aimed to compare the adherence and satisfaction with deferoxamine
(Desferal®) versus deferasirox (Exjade®), a novel oral iron chelator, in patients with transfusion-dependent
beta-thalassemia.
Patients and Methods: In this cross?sectional, single-center study, 108 homozygous ?thalassemia major
patients aged between 3-21 years old were enrolled. They were on regular blood transfusions and iron
chelators (either deferoxamine or deferasirox) for about three months. Another fifty-six apparently healthy
non-thalassemic subjects were enrolled as a control group. Results: Adherence and satisfaction wereassessed
byusing a simplequestionnaire establishedduring an interviewwithpatientsortheirparents.The serumferritin
level was measuredbythe ELISAmethod.
Our findings showed that adherence and satisfaction in the deferasirox group were more than that with
deferoxamine group patients. Serum ferritin level in the deferasirox group was significantly lower than in
the deferoxamine group at (p?0.001). while the control group was significantly lower than both patients
groups at (p?0.001). Patients on deferasirox had lower adverse effects than the deferoxamine group since
deferoxamine produce irritation and pain at the injection site for the patients.
Conclusion: Our findings concluded that deferasirox is an effective iron chelator as deferoxamine but with
better adherence and satisfaction than deferoxamine. Deferasirox can be used as a preferred iron chelator
therapy in iron-overload patients with beta-thalassemia.