PURPOSE The most important complication encountered in patients with b-thalassaemia major is degenerative fibrosis developing as a result of iron accumulation in myocardial tissue. Dysfunction pursues this accumulation. Recently, presence of fragmented QRS (fQRS) in ECG has been regarded as a predictor of myocardial fibrosis. We aimed in our study to investigate the frequency with which fQRS de...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES The amount of foetal haemoglobin that persists in adulthood affects the clinical severity of haemoglobinopathies including β-thalassaemia major and sickle cell anaemia (SCA). The present study was undertaken to analyse β-thalassaemia as well as SCA patients for the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs11886868 (T/C) in BCL11A gene and to evaluate the association betwe...

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND In beta thalassaemia major multiple blood transfusions, ineffective erythropoiesis and increased gastrointestinal iron absorption lead to iron overload in the body. Iron overload impairs the immune system, placing patients at greater risk of infection and illness. Iron overload can be determined by serum ferritin measurement. OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study is to...

One thousand consecutive Brunei Darussalam patients referred with low Hb, and/or low MCV and MCH (Hb < 12.5g/dl, MCV < 76fl, MCH < 27pg) were studied in the laboratory for underlying haemoglobinopathies. 30.0% of such patients were proved to have either beta-thalassaemia trait, beta-thalassaemia major, Hb AE, Hb EE, Hb E beta-thalassaemia or Hb H disease. In some, the haemoglobin abnormality wa...

Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia may occur during the course of influenza A infection2 and if this occurs it may pose a major problem for people with thalassaemia. In France, annual influenza vaccination is recommended and free of charge for children with chronic disease, including thalassaemia.3 In countries where thalassaemia is endemic, such as Thailand, it is also recommended that all people w...

UNLABELLED Contaxt: Every year in India 6000 to 8000 children are born with thalassaemia major. The birth of such a child produces considerable physical and economic strain on the affected child, its family and the community at large. Thus, the emphasis must shift from the treatment to the prevention of such births in the future. AIMS To find out the prevalence of the Beta Thalassaemia trait ...

BACKGROUND The present study evaluated the prognostic significance of Doppler-demonstrated left ventricular (LV) restrictive filling pattern (RFP) in patients with thalassaemia major (TM), which carries an adverse cardiovascular prognosis. METHODS AND RESULTS The study group comprised 45 asymptomatic transfusion-dependent patients with TM and normal LV systolic function. All patients were che...

An investigation of the reliability of screening tests for beta thalassaemia trait in pregnant women was carried out as part of a programme to predict beta thalassaemia major in the fetus. Women with a mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of less than 83fl were examined further, and the reliability of various red cell indices as screening tests was assessed and compared. Over three years 696 women wer...

The prevalence of eight mutations in 84 patients with beta-thalassaemia major and in 16 subjects with thalassaemia intermedia was investigated. All of the patients were Italian, originating from Eastern Sicily (Messina area) and some Calabrian regions. Genomic DNA was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). DNA molecular investigations were performed by allele-specific oligonucleotide (AS...