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Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Continuous Manual Exchange Transfusion for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease: An Efficient Method to Avoid Iron Overload
Published on: March 14, 2017
Results of a multicenter universal newborn screening program for sickle cell disease in Italy: A call to action
Raffaella Colombatti1, Maddalena Martella1, Laura Cattaneo2
1Clinic of Pediatric Hematology Oncology, Department of Woman's and Child Health, Azienda Ospedaliera-Università di Padova, Padova, Italy.
Background:
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic multisystem disorder requiring comprehensive care that includes newborn screening (NBS) as the first step of care. Italy still lacks a national SCD NBS program and policy on blood disorders. Pilot single-center screening programs and a regional targeted screening have been implemented so far, but more evidence is needed in order to impact health policies.
Population And Methods:
NBS was offered to parents of newborns in gynecology clinics in Padova and Monza, tertiary care university hospitals in northern Italy. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was performed as the first test on samples collected on Guthrie cards. Molecular analysis of the beta-globin gene was performed on positive samples.
Results:
A total of 5466 newborns were enrolled; for 5439, informed consents were obtained. A similar family origin was seen in the two centers (65% Italians, 9% mixed couples, 26% immigrants). Compared with SCD NBS programs in the United States and Europe, our results show a similar incidence of SCD patients and carriers. All SCD patients had a Sub-Saharan family background; HbS carriers were 15% Caucasians (Italian, Albanians) and 10% from other areas (North Africa-India-South America); carriers of other hemoglobin variants were mainly (47%) from other areas.
Conclusions:
Our results demonstrate the feasibility of a multicentric NBS program for SCD, give information on HbS epidemiology in two Northern Italian Areas, and support previous European recommendation for a universal NBS program for SCD in Italy: a high incidence of patients and carriers has been detected, with a high percentage of Caucasian carriers, impossible to identify in a targeted NBS.
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