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Biomedical subjects

M Petrou

Publications and source records attributed to M Petrou.

63 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Effect of fetal diagnostic testing on birth-rate of thalassaemia major in Britain.

A programme of prospective heterozygote detection and counselling, fetal diagnostic testing, and abortion of fetuses affected by thalassaemia major introduced in Britain in 1977 has proved highly acceptable to at-risk couples of Cypriot and East African Asian origin, but less so to couples of Pakistani origin. However, many at-risk couples are still not detected prospectively, the proportion of thalassaemia-major births prevented was only 32% by the end of 1981, and there is little evidence of a further fall since then. The thalassaemia-major birth-rate had fallen by 60% in Cypriots and by 20% in East African Asians, but it had not fallen at all in Pakistanis. Improved approaches to fetal diagnosis of thalassaemia major are becoming available, so a concerted effort is needed to inform all the at-risk ethnic groups of the existence of the problem and the possibility of detection of affected fetuses.

Africa, Eastern↗
PubMed1984

Population and genetic studies suggest a single origin for the Indian deletion beta thalassaemia.

In a study of beta thalassaemia in the Asian Indian immigrant populations in the U.K., 23 out of 125 beta-thalassaemic chromosomes (18%) were of the Indian deletion beta type (600 bp deletion involving the 3' end). The individuals with beta thalassaemia had originated from various parts of India and Pakistan. However, all those individuals with deletion beta thalassaemia were from Sind and the adjacent area of Gujarat. Analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphisms in the beta globin gene cluster showed that all the 23 deletion beta thalassaemia chromosomes had an identical haplotype. These findings suggest a single origin for the Indian deletion beta thalassaemia.

Chromosome Deletion↗
PubMed1984

Feasibility of antenatal diagnosis of beta thalassaemia by DNA polymorphisms in Asian Indian and Cypriot populations.

The feasibility of using restriction fragment length polymorphisms ( RFLPs ) for the antenatal diagnosis of beta thalassaemia in the U.K.-resident Cypriot and Asian Indian populations has been determined. Seven polymorphic restriction endonuclease sites in the beta globin gene cluster were analysed in 20 Cypriot and 42 Asian patients and their parents and the combination of polymorphic sites (haplotype) for each chromosome determined. It was found that 76% of the Asian and 35% of the Cypriot families had DNA polymorphisms which would allow antenatal diagnosis of a homozygous beta thalassaemic fetus, and that in the majority of the remaining families there was a 50% chance of a successful diagnosis of either a normal or a heterozygous fetus. These results indicate that RFLP analysis of fetal DNA is a useful method for antenatal diagnosis of beta thalassaemia in families with either a normal or homozygous beta thalassaemia child, especially in the Asian population in the U.K.

Child↗
PubMed1983

Method of sampling chorionic villi in first trimester of pregnancy under guidance of real time ultrasound.

Samples of chorionic villi were obtained in the first trimester by aspiration using a cannula passed transcervically under the guidance of real time ultrasound. In initial studies in 47 anaesthetised patients immediately before therapeutic abortion a method was developed giving a success rate of 89%. In 10 patients successful sampling was performed as an outpatient procedure without anaesthesia. In all, seven diagnostic procedures were undertaken and four of the five unaffected pregnancies continued. The technique of chorionic villous sampling using real time ultrasound is simple to learn and yields material for biochemical analysis and chromosomal study without the need for tissue culture. The exact obstetric risk, however, remains to be defined.

Catheterization↗