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Although Cooley, in Detroit, first described the fundamental characteristics of erythroblastic anemia, it has been in children of Italy and Greece that almost all the cases have been observed. Where there are many cases, it is to be expected that clinical observation and research should predominate. Thus Italian pediatricians and hematologists have contributed much in the past few years to an understanding of the disease and especially of its cause. This treatise on thalassemia is Number 12 of Ferrata's series on hematology, and expresses clearly and convincingly an Italian concept of the disease. A well-expressed 12-page summary in English is included, and should be welcomed by American readers.
Thalassemia is not a new disease, fossil remains in Sicily having revealed what seem to have been cases of the disease.
The authors recognize three types of thalassemia. Thalassemia major, or Cooley's disease, is homozygotic and always fatal. Thalassemia minor, or Rietti-Greppi-Michaeli