Thalassaemia in Britain

Abstract

IN Britain thalassaemia is not usually considered in the differential diagnosis of refractory hypochromic anaemia unless there is a history of Mediterranean ancestry. Israëls and Turner (1955) reported two cases of ‘target‐cell anaemia’in English women which we now consider fitted the criteria for thalassaemia, and Havard, Lehmann and Scott (1958) described one English family with undoubted thalassaemia and suggested that the disorder might be less rare in England than had hitherto been supposed. This paper describes three English families in whom a total of 25 cases of the heterozygous form of thalassaemia were found. In the majority of these the condition was completely symptomless.