Kolkata, 10th May, 2016: Peerless Hospital and B.K. Roy Research Centre known for rendering premium healthcare services in Kolkata, announced the introduction of Gene Sequencing – a novel approach in the management of thalassaemia.
Presiding the meeting Dr. Sujit Kar Purkayastha, Medical and Jt. Managing Director, Peerless Hospital & B. K. Roy Research Centre said ,’ Thalassaemia syndromes encompasses more than approx 300 types of disorders.
Need of blood in thalassaemics range from transfusion at an interval of “once in a blue moon” at one end which is most mild in terms of severity and patients who need transfusion “every fortnight” on the higher end of severity. Quality treatment starts from quality diagnosis and quality blood transfusion. We have achieved the honour to be the First centre in India to be validated against the FDA approved Ferriscan, from Resonance Healthcare, Australia, for MRI estimation of Iron overload in 2015. We have added new measures and standardized blood bank services with component preparation facilities. Gene sequencing is the latest addition to our list of comprehensive treatment which has completely changed the course of management of thalassaemia to much better results and much better quality of life. As a follow up on our previous achievement, ‘Magnetic Resonance Imaging is the most advanced method for measuring iron content of various organs – liver, heart, etc and it proved to be fairly accurate. After this special method was validated against the FDA approved Ferriscan, from Resonance Healthcare, Australia, for the first time in the country in 2015 at Peerless Hospital, since then we have performed 450 cases to estimate their iron overload.
On replying to how is Gene Sequencing superior over traditional methods of diagnosis, Dr. Prosanta Chowdhury, Consultant Thalassaemia and Haemoglobinopathy said,” HPLC as an investigation only screens whether a person is a carrier, patient or normal. It has certain limitations of its own and cannot give us answers to many situations like
- precise diagnosis of thalassaemia syndromes
- categorization of severity
- detection of carriers in border line cases
- pre 18 months of age, thalassaemia screening is not possible by HPLC
This is the space where Gene Sequencing is taking the march forward in answering many unanswered areas. While HPLC confirms whether a person is a carrier or not, Gene sequencing helps us define the pre-dispositions and the line of treatment. Gene sequencing helps in an
- in depth evaluation of thalassaemic patients
- accurate diagnosis
- is a confirmatory test
- very important in diagnosis of Denovo cases ( new mutations of unknown origin )
- can foretell future thalassaemics ie pre-natal diagnosis ( unborn child)
- single cell PCR – of blastocyst in pre implantation genetic diagnosis
- gets rid of false positive and false negative situations .”
He presented 3 cases of Thalassaemia where “life changing” management was possible using newer technologies, where real patients shared their experiences.
About Peerless Hospital & B.K.Roy Research Center
The 400 bed Multi Specialty Peerless Hospital & B.K.Roy Research Centre is a prime mover in the domain of healthcare delivery and is one of the finest medical facilities in the eastern part of the country. Built around the core principle of ethics, selfless, dedicated and sustainable service, the institution boasts of cutting edge infrastructural facilities, some of the most revered names in medical practice and an equally dedicated support service.
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