ABSTRACT:
Children with beta thalassemia major have anemia. The cause of anemia is massive erythropoiesis. Massive erythropoiesis attacks the cortex of the bone, resulting in bone abnormalities. Blood transfusions are used to treat anemia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between duration of transfusion and the anteroposterior position of the maxilla and mandible in beta thalassemia major children aged 12-14years (Javanese study). This type of research is observational with a crosssectional design. The research subjects were children with beta thalassemia major aged 12-14years. The number of research subjects was 40 children. Data on the duration of the transfusion were obtained from data from the Indonesian Thalassemia Foundation in Jakarta. A cephalometric X-ray was taken on the subject, then the SNA, SNB, and ANB angle measurements were taken. The results showed that the mean SNA angle was 86.83±3.75, the SNB angle was 77.11±2.49 and the ANB angle was 9.71±5.73. The regression line equation for the duration of transfusion against the SNA angle is y= 88.43–0.29x, the duration of the transfusion to the SNB angle is y=75.85+0.23x, the duration transfusion time to the ANB angle is y=12.57– 0.521x. The results of the Spearman correlation test showed that there was a significant relationship between the length of the transfusion and the SNA angle (r: -0.356, p: 0.024), SNB (r: 0.382, p: 0.015), ANB (r:-0.411, p:0.008). Conclusions: The longer the transfusion, the closer the anteroposterior position of the maxilla (reduced SNA angle); mandible (increased SNB angle); maxilla and mandible (reduced ANB angle) to the cranium is to normal