Discussion Forums > Thalassemia Major
My new born baby has possible Thal major
Sharmin:
Manal,
A crossmatch is always done because factors other than blood group and rh need to be known. If any antibodies are present in the patient blood - donor blood is added to sample of patient blood to see if reaction (agglutination) occurs (this is an oversimplification.) The genotype information takes some of the guess work out of finding a match. Certain donors are avoided because they have antigens that the recipient does not have. Blood banks also save time because if the donor and recipient both have certain antigens - then the blood bank does not have to avoid them or test for them.
I guess a simpler answer would be an extensive cross match is still done after a good genotype matching donor is found :wink
Sharmin
momofShreyas:
My doctor does not want to do Genotype testing. She says its not part of their usual thalassemia care. I have sent her the links from here and argued, if that test does good to the patient why not do it. She says they will not do it, and the thalassemia team, along with another doctor is going to meet with me to answer my questions. But at the end of the day, they are not going to do the test. I am worried and surprised that they do not know about genotyping and do not want do the test being a comprehensive Thalassemia care center. Even the Cooleysanemia.com has this pdf http://www.thalassemia.com/documents/thalhandbook2008.final.pdf which mentions about the importance of genotype testing.
What do I do.
Sharmin:
Dear Meena,
I understand your frustration. I am also frustrated with doctors and centers who refuse to take this simple step that can avoid possible complications in the future. Dr. Vichinsky told us that it is very important to have this test done. Antibodies don't always happen - and you may be safe - but if they do it can become a nightmare. Taking this simple step can reduce your chances of producing antibodies.
Our family has suffered a lot in the last 2 years. This complication may have been avoided if genotype testing had been done. I don't wish what we have gone through on anyone and for this reason I have been urging patients to get this testing done. Unfortunately some doctors are not open to it. The major comprehensive thalassemia care centers are doing this for all of this patients because over time they have found antibodies can pose a lot of trouble. Antibodies can cause rapid hemolysis, iron overload, and many other problems. To deal with them patients need to be on steroids, increased chelation, toxic drugs and sometimes removal of the spleen.
I don't know why doctors are not open to doing the test ??? ??? :banghead :banghead :banghead
The five major thalassemia centers in the world work together - Oakland, NY, Toronto, Italy and UK. Perhaps if you can get a hold of one of these centers and have them provide more information - or have your doctor speak with them it would be helpful. I will try to get more information for you too.
Sharmin
Andy Battaglia:
Meena,
Is this at CHOP? They are one of the Comprehensive Care centers and should be following the same guidelines. Sharmin, can you ask Oakland about this?
Sharmin:
Andy,
I will ask them.
Sharmin
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