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Comparison of Haematological Features of the β 0 and β + Thalassaemia Traits in Jamaican Negroes
Author(s) -
Millard Doreen P.,
Mason Karlene,
Serjeant Beryl E.,
Serjeant Graham R.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1977.tb00636.x
Subject(s) - medicine
Haematological characteristics have been compared in 29 subjects with heterozygous β 0 thalassaemia and in 33 subjects with heterozygous β + thalassaemia, identified by the type of sickle cell‐β thalassaemia among close relatives, in a Jamaican Negro population. Total haemoglobin, MCV and MCH were significantly lower in the β 0 type but the level of Hb A 2 was not significantly different. Individual values for MCV, MCH and Hb A 2 in the β + type occasionally overlapped those in the normal population casting doubt on the adequacy of these criteria in identifying all cases of heterozygous β + thalassaemia. The haematological differences are those which would be expected on theoretical grounds. The inability to confidently differentiate the two types of heterozygous β thalassaemia has implications for genetic counselling. The inability to distinguish heterozygous β + thalassaemia from normals on any single haematological index suggests that surveys depending on estimations of Hb A 2 or on MCV alone may have underestimated the prevalence of the β + thalassaemia gene.