Khaled Musallam: de-LIGHT Study on Use of Lifetime Anemia and Iron Control Index (LAICI) in Thalassemia Treatment
Khaled Musallam, Group Chief Research Officer Burjeel Holdings, Adj. Prof. Khalifa University and Weill Cornell Medicine (NY), shared on LinkedIn:
”Pleased to share results from our de-LIGHT study out now in the British Journal of Haematology. What makes this data special and what’s its added value:
- Most studies evaluating the impact of anemia and iron overload on morbidity and mortality outcomes in beta-thalassemia (including those from our group) used spot indices or followed patients over short or defined periods of time. In de-LIGHT, it took tremendous effort but we were able to capture a lifetime observation since diagnosis looking at anemia/iron vs outcomes over a median follow up of 38 years in 500+ patients
- We defined patients as having NTDT or TDT based on lifetime exposure to transfusions (rather than their status ‘now’ or in the past 6 months)
- We used a lifetime anemia and iron control index (LAICI) defined based on adherence to TIF guidelines recommendations in NTDT and TDT. This was significantly and independently associated with overall survival and incidence of various morbidities.
Thalassemia treatment is lifelong, and evidence-based, optimal management of anemia and iron overload should persist over the entire disease course and cannot be sporadic.”
Read the full article here.
Article: Impact of lifetime anaemia and iron control on outcomes in β-thalassaemia: Data from the longitudinal de-LIGHT study
Authors: Khaled Musallam, Angela Vitrano, Alessandro Inzerillo, Rosario Di Maggio, Rita Barone, Antonino Giangreco, Maria Concetta Renda, Emanuela Fecarotta, Antonio Troia, Antonino Giambona, Giovan Battista Ruffo, Efthymia Vlachaki, Theodora M. Venou, Paolo Ricchi, Brunella Ziello, Marilena Serra, Elena Colizzi, Filomena Longo, Martina Culcasi, Aurelio Maggio

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