The multi-organ pathology of the thalassaemias means that the most successful patient treatment programmes involve a number of medical staff, led by paediatricians and haematologists, but including other specialists in a multidisciplinary approach. However, this means that medical professionals not involved in such multidisciplinary groups, including primary care physicians and the staff of Accident and Emergency departments, rarely treat patients with thalassaemia. As a result, their knowledge of how to address acute complications in such patients is extremely limited. This handbook aims to provide a brief evaluation of the situations in which a thalassaemia patient may seek help beyond the specialized environment he/she is used to. The layout of the handbook is intended to enable the medical professional in a busy clinical setting to draw essential information at a glance, supporting rapid, accurate as possible, decisions on how to proceed.

Understand the rapidly growing complexities of obstetric hematology and high-risk pregnancy management, with experts in the field. Now in its second edition, this comprehensive and essential guide focuses on providing the best support for patients and clinical staff, to prevent serious complications in pregnancy and the post-partum period for both mother and baby. Wide-ranging and detailed, the guide offers discussions on basic principles of best care, through to tackling lesser-known hematological conditions, such as cytopenias and hemoglobinopathies. Updated with color illustrations, cutting-edge research, accurate blood film reproductions, and practical case studies, the revised edition places invaluable advice into everyday context. This unique resource is essential reading for trainees and practitioners in obstetrics, anesthesia, and hematology, as well as midwives, nurses, and laboratory staff. Clarifying difficult procedures for disease prevention, the guide ensures safety when the stakes are high. Reflecting current evidence-based guidelines, the updated volume is key to improving pregnancy outcomes worldwide.

Within the last few years, iron research has yielded exciting new insights into the understanding of normal iron homeostasis. Such development, and the evolution of improved strategies of Iron Chelating Therapy require better understanding of the pathophysiology of iron toxicity and the mechanism of action of iron chelating drugs. The timeliness of the present volume is underlined by several significant developments in recent years. New insights have been gained into the molecular basis of aberrant iron handling in hereditary disorders and the pathophysiology of iron overload. This volume highlights the impact of long term Iron Celating Therapy using deferoxamine or the new, but controversial oral iron chelator deferiprone based on experience gained by multicenter trails, with special emphasis on survival, morbidity and drug toxicity; it reviews the development of the new and improved orally effective chelators suitable for clinical use in the near future and examines novel strategies of iron chelating treatment for the control of cell proliferation in malignant disease or malaria.

Highly Commended - 2010 BMA Medical Book Awards An essential, practical manual for all those working in transfusion medicine Concise and user-friendly guide to transfusion medicine Focuses on clinical aspects but also covers background science and organizational issues Complications encountered in transfusion are addressed throughout Highlights controversial issues and provides advice for everyday clinical questions in transfusion medicine This comprehensive guide to transfusion medicine takes a practical and didactic approach. The third edition of this text includes many new contributions and has expanded to seven sections. The first of these takes the reader systematically through the principles of transfusion medicine. The second deals with the complications which can arise in transfusion and is followed by a section on the practice of transfusion in blood centres and hospitals. The fourth section covers clinical transfusion practice and the fifth looks at alternatives to transfusion. Section six addresses cellular and tissue therapy and organ transplantation and the final section of the book examines the development of the evidence base for transfusion. As with previous editions; the final section includes a visionary chapter on future advances in the field. This new edition of Practical Transfusion Medicine benefits from even more international authorship than the previous two editions and is an invaluable resource for trainee doctors, scientists, technicians and other staff in haematology and transfusion and as a reference book for clinical staff in haematology and other disciplines faced with specific problems.

Volume 1 of the Prevention Book presents the principles of a programme for the prevention of the thalassaemia and other haemoglobin disorders, including a description of the various types of disorders requiring prenatal diagnosis, the strategies used for carrier screening, and a number of annexes listing upto date epidemiological and mutation data on thalassaemia. This book was written for use in combination with Volume 2, which describes many of the laboratory protocols in great detail.

Hemoglobin defects, specifically sickle cell disease & thalassemia, combined, constitute the most common monogenic disorders in the world. In fact, nearly 2% of the world’s population carries a globin gene mutation. The transfer of the corrective globin gene through the HSC compartment by allogeneic HSC transplantation (HSCT) has already proven curative in both SCD and thalassemia patients, and provides the proof of concept that genetic manipulation of the defective organ might be equally therapeutic. However, procedural toxicities and the requirement of an HLA-matched sibling donor limit this approach to a fraction of affected individuals. The editors review the progress & the state of the field in HSCT for hemoglobinopathies & shed light on the major changes expected in the next decade. Although allogeneic HSCT is a curative option, it is limited by the availability of matched donors, which are often available only to 15-20% of patients. An alternative to allogeneic HS CT is genetic correction of autologous HSCs, to overcome donor availability & immune side effects. This Book reviews the progress made on additive gene therapy approaches & the current state of the field. Finally, targeted genetic correction is emerging as a novel therapeutic strategy in the hemoglobinopathies. Although ideal, the inefficiency of targeted correction was rate limiting for translation of this technology to the clinic. With advancements in zinc finger nucleases and TALE endonuclease mediated targeted correction, correction frequencies in hematopoietic stem cells is now reaching levels that may become clinically relevant. Furthermore, the ability to generate autologous embryonic stem cell like cells from primary somatic cells (skin fibroblasts or hematopoietic cells) of the affected individual has allowed for the potential application of genetic correction strategies.This Book reviews upcoming genetic strategies to reactivate fetal hemoglobin production and research advances.