Abstract

LUGONES BOTELL, Miguel  and  HERNANDEZ ALVAREZ, Francisco. Beta thalassemia and pregnancy. Rev Cubana Obstet Ginecol [online]. 2017, vol.43, n.2, pp. 1-9. ISSN 1561-3062.

Thalassemia is a congenital hemolytic disorder caused by a partial or complete deficiency of the synthesis of the alpha or beta chains of hemoglobin globins. It manifests itself in a wide range of clinical conditions ranging from intrauterine death to asymptomatic microcytosis without anemia. Iron deposition is the most important complication of thalassemia and its major management concern. Pregnancy in women with thalassemias becomes a serious health problem requiring differentiated and multidisciplinary attention. There is no definitive specific treatment for this condition. The existing medical arsenal can only handle the effects and not the cause. The objective of this study is to show some aspects related to the complications that may appear in this entity when it is associated with pregnancy, the discussion of the clinical problem, the diagnosis and the importance of prevention and timely genetic counseling in this group of patients. We present a black 26 year-old pregnant woman with gestational age of 13.5 weeks, with a personal pathological history of S-? Thalassemia. From a very young age, she presented pain in her limbs, with predominance in the upper right and lower left, fixed, moderate to severe intensity, which does not respond to analgesics, accompanied by pain in hypogastrium that intensifies in the following days. The patient required two blood transfusions. The importance of the preconception visit is reaffirmed to preemptively educate the population before pregnancy to avoid complications.

Keywords : thalassemia; pregnancy; complications; prevention.

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