A. M. DondorpK. T. ChotivanichS. FucharoenK. SilamutJ. VreekenP. A. KagerN. J. WhiteAcademic Medical Centre, University of AmsterdamMahidol UniversityThe Institute of Science and Technology for Research and Development, Mahidol UniversityJohn Radcliffe HospitalDivision of Infectious Diseases2018-09-072018-09-071999-05-27British Journal of Haematology. Vol.105, No.2 (1999), 505-508000710482-s2.0-0032958390https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/25646Red cell deformability (RCD) was measured in 38 patients with α- thalassaemia and 48 patients with β-thalassaemia, of whom 13 had undergone splenectomy. All splenectomized patients, but none of those with intact spleens, had very rigid erythrocytes with an elongation index <0.45 at a high shear stress of 30 Pa suggesting a splenic recognition threshold for removal of rigid red cells. At this shear stress RCD correlated strongly with the degree of anaemia in both the splenectomized (r = 0.81, P < 0.001) and non- splenectomized β-thalassaemic patients (all patients r=0.81, P<0.001; homozygous β-thalassaemic patients r= 0.51, P= 0.01). These data suggest that reduced RCD is a major determinant of anaemia in thalassaemia.Mahidol UniversityMedicineArticleSCOPUS10.1111/j.1365-2141.1999.01367.x