Hemoglobinopathies are the most prevalent genetic diseases in man. Most cases are described in Europe, Africa and in the Americas. About 270 million hemoglobinopathy carriers are alive today with 80 million being carriers of thalassemia. We estimate that, throughout the world, about 60,000 children are born annually with thalassemia and 250,000 with sickle cell disease with an estimated frequency of 2.4 children in every 1000 births. Sickle cell disease is the most common monogenic hereditary disease in Brazil with a total of from 20,000 to 30,000 patients. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is the only curative approach. Here we describe published data and propose criteria to indicate stem cell transplantation in thalassemia and sickle cell disease patients.
Hemoglobinopathies; thalassemia; sickle cell disease; bone marrow transplantation
