title: Oral manifestations and blood profile in patients with thalassemia trait.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patients with thalassemia trait (TT) may have anemia. This study evaluated whether TT patients had specific oral manifestations and a particular blood profile compared with normal individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  The oral manifestations and mean red blood cell count, corpuscular cell volume, red blood cell distribution width, Mentzer index, and Green and King index as well as blood concentrations of hemoglobin, iron, total iron binding capacity, vitamin B12, folic acid, and homocysteine in 65 TT patients and in 130 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were measured and compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  TT patients had significantly higher frequencies of all oral manifestations than healthy controls (p < 0.001 for all), in which burning sensation of oral mucosa (90.8%), lingual varicosity (90.8%), dry mouth (72.3%), atrophic glossitis (32.3%), and numbness of the oral mucosa (30.8%) were the five leading oral manifestations for TT patients. Moreover, TT patients had significantly lower mean hemoglobin level, corpuscular cell volume, Mentzer index, and Green and King index (p < 0.001 for all) as well as significantly higher mean red blood cell count and red blood cell distribution width (p < 0.001 for both) than healthy controls. However, no significant difference in the mean blood iron, total iron binding capacity, vitamin B12, folic acid, or homocysteine levels was discovered between 65 TT patients and 130 healthy controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TT patients have specific oral manifestations and a particular blood profile compared to normal individuals.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Division of Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Julia Yu-Fong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yang-Che
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: andysun7702@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001284:Atrophy / Q000209:etiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D004909:Erythrocyte Indices; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood; D005928:Glossitis / Q000209:etiology; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D006987:Hypesthesia / Q000209:etiology; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications*; D014059:Tongue / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000209:etiology*; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000097:blood; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D006710:Homocysteine; D005492:Folic Acid; D007501:Iron; D014805:Vitamin B 12
keywords: Green and King index; Mentzer index; burning sensation; hemoglobin; mean corpuscular volume; oral manifestation