Alpha-thalassaemia in Chinese: cord blood studies.

Summary: In an unselected series of 500 umbilical cord blood samples from Southern Chinese infants 15 were found to have from 3.1 to 9.8 (mean 6.5) per cent haemoglobin Bart's. Seven of the 15 were re-investigated 8–19 months after birth; in six, haemoglobin Bart's was no longer detected while in the remaining one the amount had markedly decreased. Haematological studies, carried out also in some of the parents, indicate that these infants are probably heterozygous for α-thalassaemia. In the same series one stillborn infant with haemoglobin Bart's hydrops foetalis was encountered.