title: Hemoglobin H Disease in Turkey: Experience from Eight Centers.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to research the problem of hemoglobin H (HbH) disease, to reveal the distribution patterns among different health centers, and to emphasize the importance of this disease for Turkey. A total of 273 patients were included from 8 hemoglobinopathy centers. The Antakya Hemoglobinopathy Center reported 232 patients and the remaining 7 centers reported 41 patients. PubMed was also searched for published articles related to Turkish patients with HbH disease, and we found 16 articles involving a total of 198 HbH patients. Most of the patients were reported from Antakya; thus, special attention should be paid to this region. This is a preliminary study to investigate the extent of the problem of HbH disease and it emphasizes the need for hematology associations or the Ministry of Health to record all cases of HbH disease in Turkey.
authors.affiliation: Mersin University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Hematology, Mersin, Turkey. E-mail: unalselma@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Selma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ünal
authors.forename: Gönül
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oktay
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Acıpayam
authors.forename: Gül
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: İlhan
authors.forename: Edip
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gali
authors.forename: Tiraje
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Celkan
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bay
authors.forename: Barış
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Malbora
authors.forename: Nejat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Akar
authors.forename: Yeşim
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oymak
authors.forename: Tayfur
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toptaş
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015706:Bibliometrics; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D062306:Geography, Medical; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006783:Hospitals, State / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D039781:PubMed; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult; D017085:alpha-Thalassemia / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*