Acute cerebellar infarcts in a young woman with beta-thalassemia major

Beta-thalassemia major (beta-TM) is a rare genetic disorder that benefits from regular blood transfusions. Nevertheless some major complications arise from this life long treatment: hemolysis, hemochromatosis and a hypercoagulability state. Ischemic stroke may be another major complication. We present a patient with severe beta-TM diagnosed in early childhood who encountered all the first three complications and suffered a cerebellar ischemic stroke. In this case report we look over the possible physiopathological mechanisms that may have interfered in the onset and deployment of the ischemic event. We specify the neuroimagistic approaches that may be used in monitoring of these patients. In conclusion, we point out that there are many prothrombotic risk factors contributors to the hypercoagulable state that concurs to a cerebral infarct in a beta-TM patient. Careful monitoring and imagistic examination may select the patients at risk for a stroke event.