T. A. Santhi1, M. Menaga2
BACKGROUND
Thalassemia is the most common genetic disorder worldwide. Indian Academy of Paediatrics has reported a frequency of thalassemia trait of 3-18% in Northern India and 1-3% or even less in the Southern part of India. Thus, the objectives are 1) To detect cases of β- thalassemia trait in paediatric patients presenting with anaemia using NESTROFT as a screening tool. 2) To compare the various red cell indices and discriminant functions derived from them in identifying thalassemia trait. 3) To correlate the RBC indices with the peripheral smear findings.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
100 patients in the age group of 0-12 years, presented with features and symptoms of anaemia to the inpatient and outpatient ward, Department of Paediatrics, in a medical college hospital. Their blood samples were subjected to basic complete haemogram, NESTROFT (Naked eye single tube red cell osmotic fragility test) and haemoglobin variant studies by electrophoresis. The results were analysed statistically.
RESULTS
The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of NESTROFT and various discriminant functions Mentzer index, Shine &Lal index and Srivastava’s formula were statistically showed statistically significant difference and were ideal for screening tools to identify the β thalassemia trait cases. The association of NESTROFT with other indices evaluated with chi-square test (x2) was found to be statistically significant. The mean MCV, mean MCH, mean RDW in β – thalassemia trait was lower than non β- thalassemia trait which is statistically significant (p<0.001).
CONCLUSION
NESTROFT is a suitable test for screening for beta-thalassaemia and the common haemoglobinopathies seen in India. It is easy to perform, simple, inexpensive.
