α-thalassaemia combined with hereditary spherocytosis in the same patient

A family of four from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China, including a child with α-thalassaemia and hereditary spherocytosis (HS), underwent laboratory identification, and genetic analysis. After harvesting peripheral blood samples from the child patient and his family members, GAP-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse dot-blot tests were used to identify thalassaemia genotypes. After amplifying exons and the adjacent introns of solute carrier family 4 member 1 (Diego blood group) (SLC4A1), ankyrin 1, spectrin α erythrocytic 1, spectrin β erythrocytic and erythrocyte membrane protein band 4.2 by PCR, DNA sequencing was utilised to detect gene mutations of HS. The thalassaemia gene of the child patient was -α^3.7/αα and identical to the genotype of his mother. DNA testing of HS identified two mutation sites on the SLC4A1 gene: Exon 3 c.113A>C (Asp 38 Ala) and intron 7 c.609+86G>A. The father and older sister of the patient also had the same mutations. Due to the mutual interference with disorders of haemoglobin synthesis and erythrocyte membrane defects of laboratory results, it is difficult to diagnose HS when it coexists with thalassaemia. When clinical manifestations and laboratory results cannot be explained by a single haemolytic anaemia, the possibility of combining with another haemolytic anaemia should be considered. Thus, it is necessary to perform pedigree investigation and genetic analyses for a final diagnosis.