Forecasting hemoglobinopathy burden through neonatal screening in Omani neonates

Salam Alkindi, Shoaib Al Zadjali, Ali Al Madhani, Shahina Daar, Hamood Al Haddabi, Qamariya Al Abri, David Gravell, Tsouria Berbar, Sahaya Pravin, Anil Pathare, Rajagopal Krishnamoorthy*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

63 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

To evaluate the incidence of hemoglobinopathies in Omani subjects and to forecast its future burden on health resources, we initiated a prospective neonatal screening program in two major cities of the Sultanate of Oman. Consecutive cord blood samples from a total of 7,837 neonates were analyzed for complete blood counts and for hemoglobin (Hb) profile by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). No case with Hb H (β4) was detected. We observed that the overall incidence of α-thalassemia (α-thal) was 48.5 [based on the presence of Hb Bart's (γ4)] and the β-globin-related abnormalities accounted for 9.5 of the samples (4.8 sickle cell trait, 2.6 β-thal trait, 0.9 Hb E trait, 0.8 Hb D trait, 0.08 Hb C trait, 0.3 sickle cell disease and 0.08 homozygous β-thal). This is also the first large study to establish reference ranges of cord red blood cell (RBC) indices for Omani neonates.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)135-144
Number of pages10
JournalHemoglobin
Volume34
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2010

Keywords

  • Neonatal screening
  • Red cell indices
  • α-Thalassemia (α-thal)Oman

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hematology
  • Genetics(clinical)
  • Clinical Biochemistry
  • Biochemistry, medical

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