Ocular Biometric Findings in Thalassemia Major: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PURPOSE: To find the effect of thalassemia major on ocular biometric parameters including axial length (AL), anterior chamber depth (ACD), vitreous chamber depth (VCD), and lens thickness (LT). METHODS: A systematic search was carried out on PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase using a combination of keywords. The identified records undergone primary and secondary screening. The meta-analysis was done for comparing AL, ACD, VCD, and LT between thalassemia major cases and controls using pooled effect size, confidence intervals (CIs), quality assessment, and publication bias. This review was registered in the international prospective register of systematic reviews bearing code CRD42024542894. RESULTS: This meta-analysis included 7 studies with a total sample of 1676 individuals (cases = 851, controls = 825). The cases were having reduced AL, ACD, and VCD while increased LT compared to controls. The estimated average effect size for AL = 1.07 (95%CI: 0.47-1.68, z = 3.471, P < 0.001), ACD = 0.81 (95%CI: 0.30-1.32, z = 3.109, P = 0.002), LT = 0.82 (95%CI: 0.45-1.19, z = 4.321, P < 0.001), and VCD = 1.08 (95%CI: 0.46-1.71, z = 3.392, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study concludes that AL, ACD, and VCD were significantly less while LT was significantly greater in cases than in controls.