Thalassemia is a heterogeneous group of inherited disorders. The genetic defect results in reduced rate of synthesis of one of the
globin chains that make up
hemoglobin. Reduced synthesis of one of the
globin chains causes the formation of abnormal
hemoglobin molecules, and this in turn causes the
anemia which is the symptom of the
thalassemias. There are several forms of
thalassemia.
Thalassemias are classified according to which chain of the
hemoglobin molecule is affected. The severity of the
thalassemias is correlated with the number of affected
globin loci: the greater the number of affected loci, the more severe will be the manifestations of the disease. Many of the
thalassemia patients need
splenectomy. The efficiency of
splenectomy is not well studied. The research was conducted to study humoral and cellular immunity of 30
Thalassemia intermedia patients and 15 patients with
Hemoglobin H disease in different periods after
splenectomy. The functional activity of segmented neutrophil parameters before operation was low; in the second day and during a month after operation parameters gradually decreased; and in the remote terms after
splenectomy. By first year after operation the same parameters have increased up to an initial level.