How to treat thalassemia in newborns

The disease of thalassemia is somewhat hereditary, so some newborns have thalassemia. This disease brings great trouble to the family. The status of children in a family is very important. The disease of thalassemia has troubled people a lot in recent years. They don’t know how to treat it. Today I will tell you how to treat thalassemia in newborns?

1. For general treatment, pay attention to rest and nutrition, and actively prevent infection. Appropriate supplementation of folic acid and vitamin E.

2. Blood transfusion and iron chelation therapy are still one of the important treatment methods.

The small-volume red blood cell transfusion method is only applicable to intermediate α and β thalassemia, and is not recommended for severe β thalassemia. For severe β-thalassemia, medium or high-volume blood transfusions should be given from an early stage to enable the child to grow and develop close to normal and prevent bone lesions. The method is: first repeatedly transfuse concentrated red blood cells to make the child's hemoglobin content reach 120-150g/L; then transfuse concentrated red blood cells 10-15ml/kg every 2-4 weeks to maintain the hemoglobin content above 90-105g/L. However, this method can easily lead to hemosiderosis, so iron chelation therapy should be given at the same time.

3. Deferoxamine is commonly used as an iron chelator, which can increase the excretion of iron from urine and feces, but cannot prevent the absorption of iron by the gastrointestinal tract. Iron load assessment is usually performed after regular red blood cell transfusion for 1 year or 10 to 20 units. If there is iron overload, such as SF 1000μg/L, iron chelation is started. Deferoxamine is administered at a daily dose of 25-50 mg/kg, once every night, as a continuous subcutaneous injection for 12 hours, or added to isotonic glucose solution and dripped for 8-12 hours; 5-7 days a week, for long-term use. Or add to red blood cell suspension and infuse slowly. The side effects of deferoxamine are minor, but allergic reactions may occur occasionally. Long-term use may cause cataracts and long bone development disorders, and excessive doses may cause vision and hearing loss. The combined use of vitamin C and chelating agents can enhance the effect of deferoxamine in excreting iron from the urine, with a dose of 200rng/day.

4. Splenectomy Splenectomy has a good effect on hemoglobinemia and intermediate β-thalassemia, but a poor effect on severe β-thalassemia. Splenectomy can weaken the immune function and should be performed after the age of 5 to 6 years and the indications should be strictly controlled.

5. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is currently the method that can cure severe β-thalassemia. If an HLA-matched hematopoietic stem cell donor is available, it should be the preferred method for treating major β-thalassemia.

6. Gene activation therapy uses chemical drugs to increase γ gene expression or reduce α gene expression to improve the condition of β-thalassemia. Drugs that have been used in clinical practice include urea, 5-azacytidine 5-AZC, cytarabine, myleran, isoniazid, etc., and are currently being explored.

The above describes how to treat neonatal thalassemia, so parents with newborns at home can take their children to a regular hospital for treatment according to the treatment methods mentioned above. Today's medicine is so advanced, so we must have the confidence to believe that it can be cured. If a life is born with a disease, it will affect him for the rest of his life. I wish the newborn can recover as soon as possible and grow up happily.