The Results of Hemoglobinopathy Screening in Hatay, the Southern Part of Turkey

Aim: %u03B2-Thalassemia and hemoglobinopathies are common genetic disorders in Turkey. Because of this reason, either anemic people or couples before marriage are investigated for hemoglobinopathies routinly. In this retrospective study, our aim was to determine the frequency of %u03B2-thalassemia and hemoglobinopathies in Hatay, which is located in the southern part of Turkey. Material and Method: In this study, data from 70226 individuals, admitted to Antakya State Hospital Hemoglobinopathy Center in Hatay, both for the reason of anemia and before marriage investigations, were evaluated between January 2006 and October 2012. The blood samples were collected into EDTA-containing tubes and hematological parameters were analyzed using a Sysmex XT-2000i Hematology Analyzer. High performance liquid chromatography technique was used to determine the type of hemoglobin. Results: The frequency of hemoglobinopaties were 6% %u03B2-Thalassemia trait, 6.3% sickle cell trait, 12.9% %u03B1-thalassaemia trait? and 4.2 % other abnormal hemoglobinopaties variants. We detected 49 cases with homozygot %u03B2-thalassaemia, 60 cases with homozygot haemoglobin S, 33 cases with HbH disease (thalassaemia intermedia) among all. Discussion: The frequency of %u03B2-thalassemia trait and other haemoglobinopathies in Hatay is found to be quite high as compared with other provinces in Turkey