ABSTRACT
The effect of blood transfusion on 51Cr-red blood cells surface-counting patterns was studied in 22 patients with homozygous beta-thalassaemia being transfused during erythrocyte survival study. Surface-counting patterns of 15 thalassaemics who had not been submitted to blood transfusion during the erythrocyte survival study were served as controls. In 17 of the transfused patients (group A), spleen excess counts (SEC) appeared decreasing after blood transfusion, reaching a minimum (about 50% of the initial value) 3-4 days later, and increasing thereafter to reach again their initial value on 8th to 10th posttransfusion day. The SEC pattern of the remaining 5 transfused patients (group B) presented a continuously ascending curve. Corresponding changes were observed in excess liver counts and heart counts patterns. As a result of these changes spleen/liver ratio (S/L) was found significantly affected by blood transfusion in the majority of thalassaemic patients which were transfused during the erythrocyte survival study. Furthermore, the mean age of group A patients (12.1 +/- 5.5 years) has been found to be significantly lower than that of group B (21.8 +/- 3.3 years). On the contrary, in the control group the SEC pattern appeared permanently increasing and the S/L was found unaltered during the whole duration of the erythrocyte survival study. In conclusion, as far as the surface-counting data represent indexes for splenectomy in thalassaemic patients, the results of this study signify that the influence of blood transfusion on these has to be taken into account.
