Discrimination indices as screening tests for beta-thalassemia trait.

摘要

Dear Editor,We have read with great interest the study by Ntaios et al. , which was published online in your journal. The reason for our interest is the recent publication of our study evaluating the predictive value of discrimination indices used in patients with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and beta-thalassemia trait (B-TT) . In mis paper, we think that evaluating the results of both studies as a whole is very important in understanding the predictive value of these discrimination indices used in differential diagnosis of such patients. Besides Mentzer index (MI), Green and King index (G&K), RDW index (RDWI), England and Fraser index (E&F), red cell distribution width (RDW), and red blood cell (RBC) count evaluated in their study, we have additionally evaluated Shine and Lai index, Srivastata index, and Ricerca index in our study, and we have found that these indices, similar to others, also do not have enough predictive value in discriminating these two entities. Another difference between two studies is the exclusion of IDA cases with hemoglobin (Hb) value <8.7 g/dl in our study. Hb values of patients with B-TT usually range from 9 to 11 g/dl . Demir et al. had excluded IDA cases with Hb value <8.7 g/dl in their study performed in paediatric population, because these cases are not confused with B-TT cases in practice. Our study was performed to establish the status in adult cases with inspiration from the results of this study .