[Pregnancy complication in homozygous (delta beta) zero-thalassemia. A clinical case]

A case of a pregnant woman suffering from homozygous (delta beta) zero-thalassemia clinically running as thalassemia Intermedia is described. In this patient pregnancy could not follow its normal course and was interrupted in the 24th week, because of endouterine death of the foetus due to complications such as serious haemolytic anaemia following transfusional alloimmunisation and the presence of portal vein thrombosis. In this article the literature is reviewed and the need is shown for all thalassemic patients to be tested for the various blood antigenic systems, so that transfusional reactions can be avoided. Stress is laid on the importance of erythropoietin both in the pathogenesis of haematological and rheological modifications in thalassemic patients and also as a trigger in serious thrombotic complications.