THALASSEMIA
Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that causes the body to have less hemoglobin than normal. Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen.
The disorder results in excessive destruction of red blood cells, which leads to anemia. Anemia is a condition in which the body doesn’t have enough normal, healthy red blood cells.
There are two main forms of thalassemia that are more serious, alpha and beta. In alpha thalassemia, at least one of the alpha globin genes has a mutation or abnormality. In beta thalassemia, the beta globin genes are affected. If only one of the patient’s parents is a carrier for thalassemia, he/she may develop a form of the disease known as thalassemia minor. If this occurs, he/she probably won’t have symptoms, but he/she will be a carrier. If both patient’s parents are carriers of thalassemia, he/she have a greater chance of inheriting a more serious form of the disease.
To survive, the patient must resort to continuous blood transfusions, which cause an exaggerated accumulation of iron in the tissues. This excess can cause severe harm to the body (heart failure, diabetes, liver cirrhosis, etc). One of the fundamental therapies for treating this pathology is based on iron-chelating drugs administered subcutaneously through an infusion pump, which bind the iron and allow it to be eliminated.
The objective is to keep the body’s iron levels below the toxicity threshold, improving the quality of life and life expectancy of patients. The treatment of Thalassemia through Iron Chelation therapy requires an adjustable infusion profile depending on the patient’s weight, height and conditions e.g. levels of Iron in the blood.
Usually, an infusion needs around 10-12 hours to complete so the use of the right ambulatory infusion pump allows the patient to have a normal life by being fully mobile during infusion.
