Neonatal haemoglobinopathy screening: review of a 10-year programme in Brussels

Abstract

Since 1994, a neonatal screening programme for major haemoglobinopathies has been conducted in Brussels. We performed a 10-year re-evaluation of the incidence of haemoglobinopathies in Brussels and found that of the 118,366 newborns screened, 64 were diagnosed with a sickle cell syndrome, six had beta-thalassaemia major, four had a haemoglobin C disease and three had a haemoglobin H disease. Of the 64 babies with a sickle cell disease, two died before the age of two years and two did not present at the first neonatal visit. Of the six babies suffering from beta-thalassaemia major, all are alive and two have undergone a haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The universal neonatal screening programme for haemoglobinopathies should be maintained in Brussels.