Influence of splenectomy on insoluble hemoglobin inclusion bodies in beta thalassemic erythrocytes.

I NTRACELLULAR PRECIPITATES in ghosts prepared from red cells of patients with thalassemia major were described first by Hoffman1 in 1956. Such inclusions have been recognized in intact thalassemic erythrocytes by J osephson et al.,2 Fessas, ’ Nathan et al.46 and others. The present work was stimulated by observations of the difficulty involved in removing hemoglobin from thalassemic ghosts encountered during the course of other studies.7 The work was undertaken to quantitate the residual hemoglobin in ghosts from thalassemic cells in comparison with other hemolytic anemias and normal cells, as well as to compare ghosts from splenectomized versus non-splenectomized thalassemic patients. The role of the spleen in fragmentation of thalassemic cells has also been examined in relation to these intracellular precipitates.