Abstract
Theme—alpha thalassaemia
A pregnant patient, who is a native of Indonesia, is found at antenatal screening to have a mild hypochromic anaemia. DNA testing for alpha thalassaemia reveals her alpha globin genotype to be—/αα. Further testing reveals her partner to be –α/αα. Which
The baby has a one in four chance of not surviving due to hydrops foetalis. The baby has a one in two chance of not having clinical manifestations of anaemia due to thalassaemia. The baby will inevitably have some form of anaemia. The baby will inevitably pass on an altered gene to future generations. The baby will have a mild hypochronic anaemia as a worst case scenario.
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