Evaluation of Thalassaemia Screening Tests in the Antenatal and Non-Antenatal Populations in Singapore.

Introduction: Haemoglobinopathy testing is performed for carrier screening and evaluation of microcytic anaemia. We evaluated the effectiveness of thalassaemia screening tests at our institution and suggest ways of improving the testing algorithm.

Materials And Methods: A total of 10,084 non-antenatal and 11,364 antenatal samples with alkaline gel electrophoresis (AGE), capillary electrophoresis (CE), haemoglobin H (HbH) inclusion test, mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were retrospectively reviewed.

The utility of flow cytometry in differentiating NK/T cell lymphoma from indolent and reactive NK cell proliferations.

Background: The WHO defines three categories of NK cell malignancies; extra nodal NK/T cell lymphoma (NKTCL), aggressive NK cell leukemia, and the provisional entity chronic lymphoproliferative disorder of NK cells (CLPD-NK). Although the flow cytometric (FC) phenotype of CLPD-NK has been described, studies on FC phenotype of NKTCL are limited. To the best of our knowledge ours is the first study to compare the phenotype of NKTCL, CLPD-NK, reactive NK lymphocytosis (RNKL), and normal NK cells using eight color (8C) FC.

RUNX1 point mutations potentially identify a subset of early immature T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia that may originate from differentiated T-cells.

The RUNX1/AML1 gene is among the most frequently mutated genes in human leukaemia. However, its association with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) remains poorly understood. In order to examine RUNX1 point mutations in T-ALL, we conducted an amplicon-based deep sequencing in 65 Southeast Asian childhood patients and 20 T-ALL cell lines, and detected RUNX1 mutations in 6 patients (9.

Hereditary thrombophilia in an unselected cohort of venous thrombosis patients in Singapore.

Aim: Hereditary thrombophilic markers are commonly screened among patients diagnosed as having venous thromboembolism, but optimal patient selection and the goals of screening may differ between populations. Determining the patterns of hereditary thrombophilia may improve screening strategies.

Method: An unselected cohort of venous thromboembolism patients in three tertiary institutions in Singapore was prospectively tested for the prevalence of deficiencies of protein C, protein S, antithrombin III, factor V Leiden and prothrombin 20210 gene mutations.

Thiopurine S-methyltransferase activity in three major Asian populations: a population-based study in Singapore.

Objective: The distribution of thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) activity in Asian populations has not been well documented. We studied the TPMT phenotype in three major Asian ethnic groups in Singapore, namely the Chinese (Ch), Malays (Mal) and Indians (Ind), with the aim of carrying out a comprehensive survey of the distribution of TPMT activity in Asians.

Methods: A radiochemical assay was used to measure the enzymatic activity of TPMT in the red blood cells (RBCs) of 479 healthy adults (Ch=153, Mal=163 and Ind=163).

Ex vivo differentiation of human adult bone marrow stem cells into cardiomyocyte-like cells.

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells have been shown to transdifferentiate into cardiomyocytes after 5-azacytidine treatment or co-culturing with rodent cardiomyocytes. We investigate if adult human bone marrow stem cells can be differentiated ex vivo into cardiomyocyte-like cells (CLCs) independent of cytotoxic agents or co-culturing technique. Sternal bone marrow was collected from 16 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia with the phenotype of a putative B-cell/T-cell bipotential precursor.

Biphenotypic acute leukemias (BALs) are uncommon. Most are of myeloid-B-cell or myeloid-T-cell lineage. We report herein a 70-year-old man with an unusual acute leukemia where the blasts expressed both B- and T-lymphoid markers.

Cyclosporine treatment for patients with CRF who developed pure red blood cell aplasia following EPO therapy.

Human recombinant erythropoietin is the main treatment for anemia in renal patients. Recently, there have been case reports of pure red blood cell aplasia (PRCA) developing in renal patients administered erythropoietin, probably because of neutralizing antibodies detected in all these patients. All reports were from the West, and most patients were treated with erythropoietin-alpha.