Susanna Barella

To the Editor Luspatercept was recently approved in order to address anaemia associated with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassaemia.1-3 It is contraindicated in pregnant and lactating women due to the teratogenic effects observed in preclinical animal studies. In rats, luspatercept administered at dose levels of 0, 5, 15 or 30 mg/kg on Days 3 and 10 of gestation, led to reduced uterine weight and smaller fetal body weight at all dosages.

To the Editor: Patients with clinically significant forms of β-thalassemia have been historically classified as having a β-thalassemia major or β-thalassemia intermedia phenotype, with the first primarily referring to patients who present with severe anemia during early childhood and require lifelong transfusion therapy and the latter relating to patients who present later in childhood or adolescence with mild–moderate anemia that does not necessitate immediate commitment to regular...

4. Discussion Our study provides novel information on the long-term HRQoL of patients with β-TM who underwent splenectomy (a median time since the surgical procedure of 42 years). We did not observe differences in the physical and mental health-related domains in comparison with the not-splenectomized β-TM patients. The effective reduction of the transfusion burden registered after splenectomy in our cohort of patients was not associated with an improvement in the HRQoL.