Background and purpose: Increased pressure in the pulmonary circulation is of the major factors causing cardiac disorders in patients with thalassemia. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between splenectomy and pulmonary arterial pressure in individuals with beta- thalassemia major.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in patients with beta- thalassemia attending Hajar Hospital Shahrekord, Iran, 2015. All patients underwent echocardiography and the hemoglobin levels, platelet count, ferritin, pressure, pulmonary arterial pressure, etc. were measured. Data analysis was done in Stata 13.

Results: Among the variables measured, the average age, hemoglobin level, platelet count, nucleated RBC, lactate dehydrogenase, tricuspid regurgitation flow, pulmonary arterial pressure, right diameter, main pulmonary diameter, left ventricular end diastolic diameter, left ventricular end systolic diameter were found to be higher in patients with splenectomy, compared to those of the patients without splenectomy (P> 0.05). Significant correlation was observed between platelets, NRBC and the time of splenectomy with pulmonary artery pressure (P< 0.05), but the correlations between other parameters including hemoglobin and LDH with pulmonary arterial pressure was not significant (P> 0.05).

Conclusion: The results showed that splenectomy could increase the susceptibility to pulmonary artery pressure in patients with beta thalassemia major or lead to the progression of pulmonary hypertension in this disease.