This double-blind clinical trial was conducted in Thailand to assess the impact of iron treatment on the IQ and educational attainment of 1358 9-11-y-old children. The children were classified into one of three groups: iron replete, iron depleted, and iron-deficient anemic. The Raven Progressive Matrices was used to measure IQ. A Thai language and a math test were administered to assess school attainment. A 50-mg/d tablet of ferrous sulphate was given for 2 wk and a 100 mg/d tablet, for 14 wk. An anthelminthic drug was given on the day of the blood test before treatment and 3 mo after the intervention started. There is evidence of a positive association between iron status and IQ and a language school achievement test but there is no support for the internal validity of the hypothesis that this association is causal.

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Summary:Bone marrow transplantation is the only therapeutic option that can eliminate thalassemic disease. Early results indicated that children in class 3 Lucarelli had a much worse outcome because of high nonrejection mortality and high rejection rate. We therefore tried to investigate a nonmyeloablative stem cell transplantation (NST) approach for such a disease in order to reduce mortality and rejection. We report here the case of successful NST in a 10-year-old girl who had class 3 Lucarelli ␤-thalassemia major. The conditioning regimen consisted of busulfan, fludarabine, antilymphocyte globulin and total lymphoid irradiation. Her GVHD prophylaxis included mycophenolate mofetil and cyclosporin. The patient had full donor engraftment without acute and chronic GVHD. She is now alive and well and remains disease-free 1 year after transplant.

A bleeding syndrome due to severe prothrombin complex deficiency is reported in 93 infants. Most were breast fed (98 per cent), aged 2 weeks to 1 year and there were no serious preceding or associated diseases. Hemorrhagic diathesis, pallor and mild hepatomegaly were the major manifestations. The incidence of intracr anial bleeding was strikingly high (63 per cent) particularly with subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Acute onset, short course and rapid clinical and laboratory improvement after vitamin K therapy were observed. Mortality rate was 35 per cent but has been reduced to 17 per cent since 1969. The location of bleeding, prompt diagnosis and early treatment are the major factors affecting prognosis. Severe prothrombin complex deficiency due to vitamin K deficiency accounted for the pathogenesis of bleeding. Possible causes of vitamin K deficiency were discussed but definite conclusions could not be drawn.