BMC Hematology

Background: In individuals infected with HIV, hematological abnormalities are common and are associated with increased risk of disease progression and death. However, the profile of hematological abnormalities in HIV infected adult patients is not known in Ethiopia. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the hematological manifestations of HIV infection and to identify the factors associated with cytopenias in both HAART and HAART naïve HIV infected adult patients in Ethiopia. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional quantitative study of HIV-infected adult patients attending the ART follow-up clinic of Jimma University Specialized Hospital in Jimma, Ethiopia, from July 2012 to September 2012...

Background: Anemia is the most common hematological abnormality in Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients and a significant predictor of its progression to AIDS or death. This study was aimed to assess the prevalence of anemia before and after initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among HIV positive patients attending Black Lion Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from January to April, 2017 in Black Lion Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia...

Background: Immunophenotypic analysis of the bone marrow (BM) cells has proven to be helpful in the diagnosis of Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS). However, the usefulness of flow cytometry (FCM) for the detection of myelodysplasia in the peripheral blood (PB) still needs to be investigated. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the value of FCM-based PB neutrophil and monocyte immunophenotyping for the diagnosis of lower risk MDS (LR-MDS). Methods: We evaluated by 8-color FCM the expression of multiple cell surface molecules (CD10, CD11b, CD11c, CD13, CD14, CD15, CD16, CD34, CD45, CD56, CD64 and HLA-DR) in PB neutrophils and monocytes from a series of 14 adult LR-MDS patients versus 14 normal individuals...

Background: Sickle cell trait is usually an asymptomatic presentation of a patient with slightly different hemoglobin molecule makeup than normal. It is similar to a more serious disease, sickle cell disease, in which a person's hemoglobin is mutated in such a way that causes their red blood cells to easily change shape in certain environmental and internal states; this causes red blood cells to adhere to the walls and occlude the lumen of the arteries in which they travel, leading to downstream effects secondary to ischemia...

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) encompass a diverse group of hematologic disorders characterized by ineffective and malignant hematopoiesis, peripheral cytopenias and significantly increased risk of progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The hypomethylating agents (HMA) azacitidine and decitabine induce meaningful clinical responses in a significant subset of patients with MDS. Though never compared directly with decitabine, only azacitidine has improved overall survival (OS) compared to conventional care in a randomized trial in patients with higher-risk MDS...

Background: 5-Azacitidine administered as a 7-day dosing regimen (7-0-0) is approved in high risk IPSS myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients. Alternative regimens such as a 5-day (5-0-0) or 7-day with a weekend break (5-2-2) are commonly used. No randomized controlled trial has been done directly comparing all three dosing regimens. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacies of the 5-0-0, 5-2-2, and 7-0-0 regimens in MDS and AML. Methods: A systematic review was conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE and CENTRAL...

Background: Information on the hemoglobin status of pregnant and lactating mothers was scarce. The objectives of this study were to determine the burden and determinants of anemia in the pregnant and lactating mother. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the prevalence of anemia. Binary logistic regression and multiple linear regressions were used to identify the predictors of anemia. Results: The prevalence of anemia in lactating and pregnant women was 43...

Background: Vascular thrombosis is an important pathophysiological aspect of sickle cell disease (SCD). This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and clinical impact of factor V Leiden G1691A (FVL) and prothrombin G20210A mutations among Palestinian sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. Methods: A total of 117 SCD patients, including 59 patients with sickle cell anemia (SS), 33 patients with sickle β-thalassemia and 25 individuals with sickle cell trait (AS) were studied...

Background: Abnormal fibrinogens can be caused by clinically silent hereditary mutations. A new case was detected accidentally in an 11-year-old girl when routine pre-operative coagulation tests were performed for nasal turbinate surgery. Methods: The fibrinogen genes FGA, FGG and FGB were sequenced using standard protocols. The kinetics of fibrin formation were followed by turbidity at 350 nm. Purified fibrinogen was incubated with plasmin, and the degradation products analyzed by SDS/PAGE...

Background: Hypertension is a major health problem worldwide. It can lead to cardiovascular disease and also leads to functional disturbances including hematological parameters. The abnormalities of haematological parameters may enhance an end-organ damage. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess some hematological parameters of hypertensive individuals in comparison with normotensive individuals at University of Gondar hospital, northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A cross sectional comparative study was conducted from October to November 2015 on a total of 126 hypertensive and 126 normotensive individuals at University of Gondar Hospital...

Background: Blood can save millions of lives. Even though people do not donate blood regularly, there is a constant effort to balance the supply and demand of blood. The aim of this study was, therefore, to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of blood donation between university students. Methods: The comparative cross sectional study design was used in Adama Science and Technology University and Arsi University from April 11-May 2, 2016.360 students were selected using stratified sampling...

Background: Severe anaemia contributes significantly to mortality, especially in children under 5 years of age. Timely blood transfusion is known to improve outcomes. We investigated the magnitude of anaemia and emergency blood transfusion practices amongst children under 5 years presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) of Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Tanzania. Methods: This prospective observational study enrolled children under 5 years old with anaemia, over a 7-week period in August and September of 2015...

Background: It has been reported that patients with SCD do have an abnormal coagulation profile. Coagulopathy is thought to be one of the key factors that contribute to the vaso-occlusive crisis that characterises sickle cell disease (SCD). In this study, we investigated whether Sudanese sickle cell patients have an abnormal coagulation profile. In addition, the effect of treatment with either omega-3 fatty acids or hydroxyurea on coagulation profile was assessed. Methods: Homozygous SCD patients untreated ( n  = 52), omega-3 treated ( n  = 44), hydroxyurea (HU) treated ( n  = 8) and healthy (HbAA) controls ( n  = 52) matched for age (4-20 years), gender and socioeconomic status were enrolled...

BACKGROUND: Anemia during pregnancy is one of the most common indirect obstetric cause of maternal mortality in developing countries. It is responsible for poor maternal and fetal outcomes. A limited number of studies were conducted on anemia during pregnancy in Ethiopia, and they present inconsistent findings. Therefore, this review was undertaken to summarize the findings conducted in several parts of the country and present the national level of anemia among pregnant women in Ethiopia...

BACKGROUND: Previously published data have demonstrated that sickle red blood cells produce twice as much reactive oxygen species (ROS) suggesting that co-inheritance of sickle cell disease (SCD) and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) enzymopathy could lead to more severe anaemia during sickling crises. Elevated foetal haemoglobin (Hb F) levels have been shown to have positive modulatory effects on sickling crises and disease outcomes. This study sought to assess how inheritance of G6PD enzymopathy affects the level of Hb F and haemoglobin concentration in adults in steady state...

BACKGROUND: In this study, we evaluate the association of different clinical profiles, laboratory and genetic biomarkers in patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) and hemoglobin SC disease (HbSC) in attempt to characterize the sickle cell disease (SCD) genotypes. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study from 2013 to 2014 in 200 SCD individuals (141 with SCA; 59 with HbSC) and analyzed demographic data to characterize the study population. In addition, we determined the association of hematological, biochemical and genetic markers including the βS-globin gene haplotypes and the 3...

BACKGROUND: There are a paucity of data on epistaxis as it pertains to sickle cell anaemia. Some case studies suggest epistaxis to be a significant complication in patients with sickle cell anaemia in sub-Saharan Africa; however, no robust studies have sought to establish the epidemiology or pathophysiology of this phenomenon. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study with the aim of investigating the importance of epistaxis among children presenting with sickle cell anaemia at the Mbale Regional Referral Hospital in eastern Uganda...

BACKGROUND: Although a state of anemia is perceived to be associated with spaceflight, to date a peripheral blood hematologic assessment of red blood cell (RBC) indices has not been performed during long-duration space missions. METHODS: This investigation collected whole blood samples from astronauts participating in up to 6-months orbital spaceflight, and returned those samples (ambient storage) to Earth for analysis. As samples were always collected near undock of a returning vehicle, the delay from collection to analysis never exceeded 48 h...

BACKGROUND: Anemia is a significant wide spread public health threat especially among the adolescent girls who are more vulnerable towards low level of hemoglobin particularly of low and middle income countries (LMICs). We investigated the prevalence of anemia among the adolescent girls (10-19 years) in Bangladesh and its socio-demographics distribution. METHODS: We collected data digitally in ODK platform from a sub-sample of a nationwide cross-sectional survey of 1314 adolescent girls in 2015...

BACKGROUND: Zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) has been used to screen and manage iron deficiency in individual children, but it has also been recommended to assess population iron status. The diagnostic utility of ZPP used in combination with haemoglobin concentration has not been evaluated in pre-school children. We aimed to a) identify factors associated with ZPP in children aged 12-36 months; b) assess the diagnostic performance and utility of ZPP, either alone or in combination with haemoglobin, to detect iron deficiency...