Background: hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct) have been used routinely in the diagnosis of neonatal anemia and polycythemia. Objective: To measure the cord blood Hb and Hct and to determine their association with maternal Hb and Hct. Methods: 170 healthy neonates born through normal vaginal delivery with gestation age of 37-42 wks and birth weight of 2.5-4 kg, and their mothers were included in this cross-sectional study. Cord blood Hb and Hct of these infants and their mothers were measured by an electronic Coulter counter. Results: We studied 97 male and 73 female neonates. The mean cord blood Hb was 15.8 (range: 11 -21.4) g/dl, and Hct was 48% (range: 34%-63%). The mean±SD cord Hb of males (16.0±1.4 g/dl) was significantly (p<0.05) more than that of females (15.3±1.8 g/dl). Polycythemia (Hct>63%) was not found in any infants. However, 11.7% of newborns had an Hb<14 g/dl. Mean Hb of mothers was 12.3 g/dl.18% of mothers had an Hb<11 g/dl. No significant correlation could be found between cord Hb and parity, birth weight and maternal age. No association could be found between cord blood and maternal Hb. Nevertheless, anemic neonates were born more frequently to mothers with low Hb. Conclusion: We found that mean Hb in our newborns was less than previously reported values. Furthermore, we could find no correlation between cord and maternal Hb. Iran J Med Sci 2003; 28 (4):166-168.

Background: Single nucleotide mutations in a1 or a2 genes produce abnormal a-chain hemoglobins. hemoglobin Q disorders including hemoglobin Q-Iran, hemoglobin Q-Thailand, and hemoglobin Q-India are important hemoglobin variants. Herein, we report on the presence and hematologic and molecular features of hemoglobin Q-Iran [a75 (EF4) Asp®His] in 20 members of 11 families including nine children and hemoglobin Setif [a94 (G1) Asp®Tyr] in 10 individuals from five families consisting of five children and their affected parents living in western Iran. Methods: A polymerase chain reaction-RFLP procedure using Ava II restriction enzyme was designed to confirm the presence of two a-chain variants. To find the coinheritance with α- thalassemia, the presence of deletions of -a3.7, -a20.5, --MED, --SEA, and nondeletion defects of IVSI (-5 bp) and hemoglobin CS was examined using polymerase chain reaction-based approaches. Results: The mean±SD level of hemoglobin Q-Iran was 20.4±4.4%. Three out of 18 individuals with hemoglobin Q-Iran were heterozygous for -a3.7 deletion (-a3.7/aa). The coinheritance of hemoglobin Q-Iran and -a3.7 deletion resulted in significantly (P=0.002) higher levels of hemoglobin Q-Iran (26.7±3.8 %). In those heterozygous for hemoglobin Setif, the level of this hemoglobin was 17.8±5.6 %. Conclusion: The polymerase chain reaction-RFLP method described here is a simple, rapid, and inexpensive procedure for the diagnosis of abnormal a-chains in developing countries.

Dear Editor-in-Chief, The recent report on “The Adverse Effects of Pregnancies Complicated by hemoglobin H (HBH) Disease” is very interesting. Rabiee et al. reported a pregnant case complicated with HBH disease.Indeed, this problem might not common in the Middle East but it is very common in Southeast Asia.The authors hereby would like to share the experience on this topic. In the recent report by Tongsong et al., the maternal outcomes of normal mothers and those with HBH disease were not different. The common identified problems are fetal growth restriction, preterm birth and low birth weight.

Background: High maternal hemoglobin concentration has been increasingly linked to poor pregnancy outcomes in recent years. This study was aimed to determine whether high maternal hemoglobin (Hb) in first trimester is associated with preeclampsia.Materials and Methods: In 2009 a retrospective study was conducted and demographic and obstetric records of 1513 low risk pregnant mother registered to a staterun hospital in Tehran were studied. The association between first trimester hemoglobin concentration, BMI, Pregnancy weight gain, maternal age, and parity supplementation with calcium and/or multivitamin and preeclampsia was assessed in multiple logistic regression model.Results: The mean age of the studied mothers was 26.4±5.2 years. 54.1% of sample were nulliparous and 44.1% had a BMI>25 kg/m2, mean Hb concentration was 12.5±1.1 g/dl.5.6% of pregnancies were complicated by Preeclampsia. Results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that Hb concentration greater than 13.2g/dl (OR: 1.73, 95% IC: 1.07-2.81), BMI (OR: 1.58, 95% IC: 1.17-2.12) and calcium supplementation (OR: 0.38, 95% IC: 0.22-0.64) were significantly associated with preeclampsia.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that high Hb in the first trimester is related to subsequent preeclampsia. Prophylactic iron supplementation may increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes when mother does not have iron deficiency or IDA, therefore routine iron administration to women with high Hb values might be modified.