pattern of common haemoglobinopathies among anaemic patients in eastern province of Saudi Arabia

Haemoglobinopathy is a collection of a number of diseases, including sickle-cell disease and thalassemia. Several reports indicate that haemo-globinopathies with or without G6PD are the most common genetic abnormalities in the population of the Arabian- Peninsula. However the exact frequencies of neglected cases of these abnormalities among anaemic patients have not yet been determined. 1372 patients were selected from those who attending the out patients from multicenter clinics in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.. No one of our patients had been diagnosed for haemoglobinopathies or other chronic diseases. The control groups were as following: 152 children who attended the pediatric clinics for general checkup; 84 adult females; and 92 adult males who attended for blood donation. All individuals were subjected for the following tests: [1] complete blood picture and blood smear, [2] HB electrophoresis, [3] Sickling test [4] G6PD screening, [5] G6PD assay for positive screening cases [6] anemia test panel including serum iron, serum ferritin, and total iron binding capacity. The highest prevalence of haemoglobinopathies is sickle cell diseases. The carriage of at least one of S allele was 41.9%. The second commonest haemoglobinopathies in this study was beta thalassemia represent about 23.46% of total haemoglobinopathies. The third commonest haemoglobinopathies were hereditary persistent fetal haemoglobin [HPFH] and G6PD representing about 15% and 10.26% respectively. Significant differences of haemtological parameters were observed among haemoglobinopathies compared with control groups. Our results suggest the importance of screening tests of Haemoglobinopathies in individuals in Eastern region of Saudi Arabia