[Pregnancy management in women with thalassemia]

Thanks to the improvement of the techniques of assisted fecundation, of the obstetric management and of the fetal and neonatal monitoring now it's possible for a woman suffering from beta-thalassemia to have a child. Our purpose is to stress the importance to control the high maternal and fetal risk through the monitoring of several scales. The problems, connected with pregnancy of beta-thalassemic women are discussed, emphasizing the connection between pregnancy management and gestational and neonatal outcome. A variety of problems should be considered such as the informed consent about maternal and fetal risks, the problems caused by infectious agents or due to the use of some antiviral; the difficulties connected with heart and endocrine diseases are also discussed. Personal experience, from 1995 to 1999, on 4 beta-thalassemic pregnant women (three with the intermediate type and one with the major type) is reported.