Understanding of the significance and health implications of asplenia in a cohort of patients with haemaglobinopathy: possible benefits of a spleen registry.

Objectives: Asplenia and hyposplenism carry a significant risk of ongoing morbidity and mortality which can be reduced by education, vaccination and antibiotic use. We aimed to assess education and other methods of prevention in a cohort of patients with haemoglobinopathy in a tertiary referral centre, which also had access to a post-splenectomy registry created to reduce post-splenectomy infection risk.

Methods: A standardized questionnaire was used on patients who attended the service for regular therapy.