Correlation between transfusion requirement, blood volume and haemoglobin level in homozygous beta-thalassaemia.
We examined the relationship between blood volume, mean haemoglobin maintained and transfusion requirement in an extensive series (166 cases) of uniformly treated patients with homozygous beta-thalassaemia. The blood volume is increased in all the subjects and this increase appears inversely proportional to the mean haemoglobin level maintained. When this is above 12 g/dl, the blood volume is nearly normal. The transfusion requirement of patients kept between 10 and 14 g/dl is constant. Maintenance of a high haemoglobin level in thalassaemic patients inhibits erythropoiesis to a considerable degree with a reduction of the haemopoietic tissue and hence of the total blood volume.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D001810:Blood Volume; D001830:Body Surface Area; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D013156:Splenectomy; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy
D006454:Hemoglobins