A useful relationship between the presence of extramedullary erythropoeisis and the level of the soluble form of the transferrin receptor in a large cohort of adult patients with thalassemia intermedia: a prospective study.

In thalassemia intermedia (TI), the increase in bone marrow hemopoietic activity frequently leads to extramedullary erythropoeisis (EMH), but its relationship with the soluble form of transferrin receptor (sTfR) which fully reflects the marrow erythropoietic activity, has not yet been explored. From January 2007 to December 2010, all TI patients attending at our center were prospectively enrolled to undergo sTfR assay and MRI or CT (if claustrophobic) scan evaluation for the presence of paraspinal EMH. A total of 59 patients with TI were studied; EMH involved 23 (39%) patients; overall, the concentration of sTfR varied from 2.