Abstract
A 32-year-old male presented to our department with deformity in the little finger for 4 months. He has been diagnosed with a case of thalassemia major since childhood, requiring blood transfusion two to three times weekly along with oral deferasirox (oral iron chelator). On examination, he had boutonniere deformity in the right little finger without other signs of inflammatory arthritis. Radiograph of hands showed generalised cortical thinning, widened medullary cavity, expansion of bone calibre, osteoporosis, coarsened trabecular pattern (honeycomb) (Figure 1), and enlarged vascular channels, consistent with changes of marrow hyperplasia in thalassemia. 1 Radiographic manifestations are most common and severe in thalassemia major, closely paralleling the degree of marrow hyperplasia, which produces characteristic osseous changes.
Radiograph of Hands Showing Generalised Cortical Thinning (Blue Arrow), Widened Medullary Cavity (Yellow Arrow), Expansion of Bone Calibre, Osteoporosis (Green Arrow), Coarsened Trabecular Pattern (Honeycomb) (Red Arrow), and Enlarged Vascular Channels.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
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Patient Consent
Written consent to publish was obtained from the patient in question.