beta-Thalassemia mutations in the Iranian Kurdish population of Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan provinces.

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and spectrum of beta-thalassemia (beta-thal) mutations in the population of Sunni Muslim Kurds in western Iran and to set up a prenatal diagnostic laboratory. Sixty unrelated Kurdish beta-thal patients identified in hematology clinics from different cities were studied. The mutations in 120 chromosomes were studied by polymerase chain reaction-amplification refractory mutation system and direct sequencing methods.