The triplicated alpha-gene locus and heterozygous beta thalassaemia: a case of thalassaemia intermedia.

The triplicated alpha gene locus has been described independently by Higgs et a1 (1980) and Goossems et aI (1 980). The coinheritance of heterozygous beta-thalassaemia and the additional alpha gene has been recently reported by Kanavakis et aZ(1983). They observed that, in subjects of Greek and Indian origin, the interaction of the two genetic abnormalities is haematologically and clinically indistinguishable from heterozygous beta-thalassaemia. In this paper, we report a case in which the same interaction seems to give rise to a picture of mild thalassaemia intermedia.