Fertility and Pregnancy in Thalassemia Major

Tuck, Susan M.

doi:10.1196/annals.1345.062

Cited by 49 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…[8][9][10][11] Apart from the report by Skordis et al, who described the pregnancies of 86 women with thalassemia major and 12 women with thalassemia intermedia from Greece, only a small number of studies have focused on pregnancy in well-transfused and well-chelated women with thalassemia major. [12][13][14][15] Moreover, only a few studies have been published describing pregnancy in women with thalassemia intermedia. 16 There are reports of increased risk of abortion, pre-term delivery, intrauterine growth restriction and thromboembolism in pregnant women with thalassemia intermedia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pregnancy and -thalassemia: an Italian multicenter experience

Origa¹,

Piga²,

Quarta³

et al. 2009

Haematologica

105

141

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundRecent advances in the management of thalassemia have significantly improved life expectancy and quality of life of patients with this hemoglobinopathy, with a consequent increase in their reproductive potential and desire to have children. Design and MethodsWe describe the methods of conception and delivery, as well as the course and outcome of pregnancy including transfusions, iron overload and chelation in 46 women with thalassemia major (58 pregnancies) and in 11 women with thalassemia intermedia (17 pregnancies). Conception was achieved after gonadotrophin-induced ovulation in 33 of the women with thalassemia major and spontaneously in all of those with thalassemia intermedia. ResultsAmong the women with thalassemia major, 91% of the pregnancies resulted in successful delivery of 45 singleton live-born neonates, five sets of twins and one set of triplets. No secondary complications of iron overload developed or worsened during pregnancy. When considering only the singleton pregnancies, the proportion of babies with intrauterine growth retardation did not differ from that reported in the general Italian population. The high prevalence of pre-term births (32.7%) was mostly related to multiple pregnancies and precautionary reasons. Pregnancy was safe in most women with thalassemia major or intermedia. However, women with thalassemia intermedia who had never previously been transfused or who had received only minimal transfusion therapy were at risk of severe alloimmune anemia if blood transfusions were required during pregnancy. ConclusionsProvided that a multidisciplinary team is available, pregnancy is possible, safe and usually has a favorable outcome in patients with thalassemia. In women with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, gonadal function is usually intact and fertility is usually retrievable.Key words: pregnancy, thalassemia major, thalassemia intermedia, hypogonadism, assisted reproduction.Citation: Origa R, Piga A, Quarta G, Forni GL, Longo F, Melpignano A, and Galanello R. Pregnancy and β-thalassemia: an Italian multicenter experience. Haematologica. 2010; 95:376-381. doi:10.3324/haematol.2009 This is an open-access paper.Pregnancy and β β-thalassemia: an Italian multicenter experience

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pregnancy and -thalassemia: an Italian multicenter experience

Origa¹,

Piga²,

Quarta³

et al. 2009

Haematologica

105

141

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…More and more adult thalassemic patients in their second and third decades of life with the prospect of marriage wish to know their ability to father a child (3,4,14,(19)(20)(21).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conventional semen analysis was carried out using manual procedures and light microscopy in the central hospital laboratory according to the last World Health Organization guidelines (20). The semen analyzer was blinded to patients' names and diagnosis.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acute effects of blood transfusion on pituitary gonadal axis and sperm parameters in adolescents and young men with thalassemia major: a pilot study

Soliman

Yasin

Elawwa

et al. 2012

Fertility and Sterility

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Two recent prospective large-scale studies confirmed the efficacy of DFX in reducing serum ferritin levels and total body iron stores in patients with thalassemia [1,2], and therefore the use of DFX is quite common among thalassemic patients. In addition, there is growing evidence from specialist centers that the number of women affected by thalassemia major with spontaneous ovulation and unplanned pregnancies is increasing [3,4,5,6,7]. Thus, it is not surprising that spontaneous pregnancy can occur in well-chelated and transfused thalassemic patients, but the interesting features of this case, which have never been reported previously, are both the advanced maternal age and the concomitant and well-tolerated administration of DFX chelation therapy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case of Well-Tolerated and Safe Deferasirox Administration during the First Trimester of a Spontaneous Pregnancy in an Advanced Maternal Age Thalassemic Patient

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this report, we present a case of a spontaneous pregnancy in a 42-year-old thalassemic woman referred to our Microcythemic Unit while she was on deferasirox (DFX) therapy. The patient had been on treatment with DFX since March 2008 and in March 2009 realized that she was pregnant at 12 weeks of gestation. The conception was spontaneous and the baby was born at full term without complications or malformations.

show abstract

Fertility and Pregnancy in Thalassemia Major

Cited by 49 publications

References 2 publications

Pregnancy and -thalassemia: an Italian multicenter experience

Pregnancy and -thalassemia: an Italian multicenter experience

Acute effects of blood transfusion on pituitary gonadal axis and sperm parameters in adolescents and young men with thalassemia major: a pilot study

A Case of Well-Tolerated and Safe Deferasirox Administration during the First Trimester of a Spontaneous Pregnancy in an Advanced Maternal Age Thalassemic Patient

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About