Clinical Classification, Screening and Diagnosis for Thalassemia

At present, thalassemia diseases are classified into transfusion-dependent thalassemia and non –transfusion-dependent thalassemia. This classification is based on the clinical severity of patients determining whether they do require regular blood transfusions to survive (transfusion-dependent thalassemia) or not (non–transfusion-dependent thalassemia). In addition to the previous terminol ogy of “thalassemia major” or “thalassemia intermedia,” this classification has embraced all other forms of thalassemia syndromes such as α-thalassemia, hemoglobin E/β-thalassemia and combined α- and β-thalassemias. Definitive diagnosis of thalassemia and hemoglobinopathies requires a co mprehensive workup from complete blood count, hemoglobin analysis, and molecular studies to identify mutations of globin genes.

Source: Hematology/Oncology Clinics of North America - February 17, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Vip Viprakasit, Supachai Ekwattanakit Source Type: research