ISSN:
1432-1076
Keywords:
Red blood cell indices
;
Heterozygous β-thalassaemia
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract This paper describes the percentile curves for red blood cell (RBC) count, Hb, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) values of β°-thalassaemia heterozygotes during infancy, childhood and adolescence. Hb values were about 2 g/dl below those of normal controls with a progressive increase with age parallelling the normal developmental trend. The Hb increase with age was due to a progressive rise in the Hb content per cell, the number of RBC remaining nearly constant. MCV and MCH values also increased with age with a pattern parallel to normal control. Because of the high prevalence of α-thalassaemia in the Sardinian population, to which all the subjects investigated belong, the 3rd MCH-MCV percentile curves of normal overlap the 97th curve of β-thalassaemia heterozygotes. The HbA2 levels, however, were always increased as compared to normal. These results confirm in children than screening for heterozygous β-thalassaemia in populations with a high incidence of α and β-thalassaemia by MCV-MCH determination may overlook a sizeable proportion of β-thalassaemia carriers. The knowledge of the extent of variation of RBC indices of β-thalassaemia heterozygotes during infancy, childhood and adolescence, is very useful for the evaluation of a child presenting with a mild microcytic anaemia.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02093721
