Current therapy for thalassemia in Italy

• Published in: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Vol. 612; p. 268
• Main Author: Gabutti, V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.1990
• Subjects: Blood Transfusion; Ferritins - blood; Hemoglobins - metabolism; Humans; Italy; Splenectomy; Thalassemia - blood; Thalassemia - therapy; Italy
• ISSN: 0077-8923; 1749-6632
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1990.tb24314.x

Care and life quality of thalassemic patients in Italy have greatly improved over the last years thanks to cooperation between many clinical centers. The achievement of the following points played an important role: 1. A national treatment protocol was adopted in 1980; it has been widely accepted and regularly updated. 2. A standardized format for recording clinical data and a computerized clinical record (Computhal) were adopted. 3. A national registry was set up in order to evaluate the patient age distribution and birth and death rates both at the regional and national level. 4. A quality assurance program (Cooley Care) was devised after key indicators for evaluating treatment were identified and a central data base was set up. 5. Cooperative clinical trials provided information on many pathological and therapeutical aspects of the disease (incidence of complications, causes of death). 6. Pilot studies were carried out on emerging problems (intensive chelation, desferrioxamine (DFO) pharmacokinetics and toxicity). 7. Attention was paid to psychological and social problems.