An analysis of NESTROFT and Red cell indices in evaluating antenatal mothers for Beta Thalassemia trait

Abstract

Background: The frequency of thalassemia trait is about 3% worldwide, while in developing countries like India, it is a major cause of burden on the health care system. Naked eye single tube red cell osmotic fragility test (NESTROFT) used in population screening for beta thalassemia trait. It is a simple, low cost, reliable and most suitable screening test for β BTT, with a sensitivity of 99.8% in regions with high prevalence rates.Material &Methods: The present study was conducted in the Department of Pathology and included a total of 174 antenatal cases, attending the Out Patient Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of a tertiary health care center in New Delhi between June 2011 to January 2012. The aim of the study was to screen mothers antenatally for early detection of BTT and to test the validity of NESTROFT in detection of thalassemic carriers of this area.Results: 174 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics were screened for detecting hemoglobinopathy with the help of NESTROFT, red cell indices, haemoglobin electrophoresis and HPLC It was seen that only four cases were BTT while ten were of microcytic anaemia and two had normal red cell indices.Conclusion: antenatal diagnosis of BTT is an important screening programme to reduce the burden of birth of children suffering from thalassemia and other hemoglobinopathies.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.17(3) 2018 p.411-416

Evaluation of Naked Eye Single Tube Red Cell Osmotic Fragility Test (NESTROFT) in Screening and Diagnosis of Beta Thalassaemia Trait in Pakistani Population

“…In the present study, NESTROFT was reported to be 100% sensitive as confirmed with HbA2 value of more than 3.2 indicating the true positivity of beta thalassaemia trait carriers. Since 1991, many studies were conducted to determine the efficacy of NESTROFT as a screening tool for beta thalassaemia trait among normal population [16][17][18][19][20] . These studies reported that 96-100% of heterozygotes with beta thalassaemia trait could be detected with NESTRO-FT. Their findings were in accordance with this study.…”

“…A similar study carried out in by Sumera et al reported NESTROFT to be 93% sensitive and 88% specific. An Indian study showed 100% and 92.9% sensitivity and specificity respectively, claiming that NESTROFT was the most effective, inexpensive, and accurate test for screening for beta thalassaemia trait 16,17 .…”

Deteksi Pembawa Thalassemia Di Yogyakarta Berdasarkan Fragilitas Sel Darah Merah

“…Prinsip NESTROFT didasarkan pada fragilitas sel darah merah (Cow et al, 2005). Metode tersebut memiliki berbagai keunggulan seperti harganya yang cenderung terjangkau, mudah dilakukan, prosesnya cepat, dan objektif (Gosavi et al, 2021;Safia et al, 2018). Sensitivitas uji ini sebesar 99,8% untuk mendeteksi pembawa β-thalassemia dalam upaya menilai prevelensi sifat dari pembawa tersebut (Chakrabarti et al, 2012;Piplani et al, 2013).…”