The Ege University Hospital (EUH) Thalassemia Center provides thalassaemia patients
with clinical and multidisciplinary follow-up and is equipped to perform prenatal
diagnosis and bone marrow transplantation.
Prof. Yesim Aydinok is a paediatric haematologist and head of the
Thalassemia Unit, which provides regular follow-up for a total of 130 paediatric
and adult patients with homozygous haemoglobinopathies (mostly β-thalassaemia).
EUH Thalassemia Center is the reference centre for the Aegean region, covering six
major provinces with an additional 500 patients. Prof. Aydinok is member of the
Scientific Board on Hemoglobinopathies of the Turkish Ministry of Health, and involved
in the Hemoglobinopathy Control Program of Turkey. She is also the General Secretary
of the Turkish Thalassaemia Federation and head of the Hemoglobinopathy sub-committee
of the Turkish Pediatric Hematology Association. She has conducted many clinical
multi-centre trials in thalassaemia.
Prof. Ferda Ozkinay is head of the Pediatric Genetics and Teratology
subdivision, member of the Official Council for Genetic Diagnostic Centers in the
Turkish Ministry of Health and external consultant on perinatology at EUH. She works
in the EUH Medical Genetics Department, which is closely involved in genetic services,
research and tests of the EUH Thalassaemia Center. For instance, a total of 184
mutation analyses (of which 28 prenatal) were performed between January 2005 and
June 2006. Two different methods for confirmation are used for prenatal diagnosis,
and maternal contamination is excluded using polymorphic markers. Cytogenetic pre-implantation
diagnosis is available, but has not yet been applied to thalassaemia. Molecular
pre-implantation genetic diagnosis is being planned by collaboration with a centre
experienced in this method.