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 a b-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 a b-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.

Newborn Screening for Sickle Cell Disease Using Tandem Mass Spectrometry

“…Maternal consent was obtained before collecting blood samples. This program is part of a collaborative project with the Réseau des hémoglobinop-athies (24 ).…”

Sickle cell disease as a paradigm of immigration hematology: new challenges for hematologists in Europe

“…Regional variation in the frequency of hemoglobin S (HbS) within the endemic countries of origin leads in turn, through the settling of immigrant populations in localized groups, to foci of high prevalence in their adopted countries (eg London, Birmingham, Paris, Brussels, Madrid and Copenhagen, [12][13][14][15][16] with consequent implications for screening and service provision.…”

“…There have been many national and local initiatives in non-endemic countries to obtain accurate, up-todate measures of the changing prevalence of sickle cell disease, 5,7,12,13,15,[17][18][19][20] although attempts to establish comprehensive national registries have so far largely failed, despite individual efforts, because of insufficient funding. 19,21 An alternative approach, which provides an essential starting point for planning purposes, is to estimate the carrier frequency using national population data including information about country of origin.…”

Newborn screening for inborn errors of metabolism and endocrinopathies: an update

“…However, in the future, high mobility and migration typical of modern communities will alter the situation. Recommendations in Belgium and the UK already support nonselective screening [114,116].…”