Impact of Iron Deficiency Anemia on Electrocardiographic Markers in Pediatric Patients

Abstract

Background Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a condition in which healthy red blood cells are inadequately produced in children and, if left untreated, can lead to serious health problems. The impact of IDA on electrocardiographic (ECG) markers in children has not been sufficiently investigated, emphasizing the need for more comprehensive studies in this regard.Methods This study, conducted in our clinic, includes 75 children diagnosed with anemia and a control group of 77 healthy children. ECG analysis was employed to assess depolarization and repolarization parameters, including measurements such as QT interval, Tp-e interval (Tp-e), cardiac electrophysiological balance index (iCEB), and frontal QRS-T angle.Results The ECG parameters of children with IDA and ferritin levels below 15 ng/mL were contrasted with those of healthy children having ferritin levels exceeding 25 ng/mL. The anemic group exhibited significantly higher values for QT interval, corrected QT (QTc), Tp-e, P-wave dispersion (PWd), QT dispersion (QTd), corrected QTd, Tp-e dispersion, iCEB, and corrected iCEB compared to the control group. In the Pearson correlation analysis, a weak and negative correlation was found between ferritin levels and QT dispersion (p = 0.002) and QTc dispersion (p = 0.039). No significant relationship was detected between other parameters. These observations imply that IDA in children might induce alterations in depolarization and repolarization, potentially elevating the susceptibility to arrhythmias.Conclusions Our study demonstrated significant alterations in certain electrocardiographic parameters in children with IDA. These findings suggest that iron deficiency may influence cardiac repolarization and highlight the potential role of ECG monitoring in the early stages.