Thalassemia Major (Mediterranean or Cooley's Anemia): Report of Two Cases in Negro Children

Introduction  The first case of thalassemia major (Mediterranean anemia) to be described in the American literature was reported in 1925 by Cooley and Lee.¹ The subjects of this original report were children ranging in age from 11 months to 5 years. One child was of Negroid ancestry. Subsequent reports in this country have dealt largely with white persons whose ancestors inhabited the Mediterranean countries.^2-6 Because of the rarity of authenticated cases in the Negro, we are reporting 2 children from different families with this blood dyscrasia. One of the patients, whose longitudinal course has been interesting, was the subject of a previous article.⁷ Additional findings are included in the current report. Report of CasesCase 1.—An American Negro male first entered the hospital at the age of 28 months with the clinical findings of dark urine, epistaxis, jaundiced sclerae, splenomegaly, and cardiac enlargement. The laboratory findings revealed: