Treatment outcomes in patients with transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia
The treatment outcomes in the patients treated with thalidomide were evaluated by transfusion volume at the first month, the third month and the sixth month visits when Hb was kept above 90.0g·L-1. The results of evaluation are illustrated as Table 2 and Figure 1 . After the first month treatment, 21/77 (27.3%) maintained Hb over 90g·L-1 without transfusion. After the third month treatment, 42/77 (54.5%) maintained Hb over 90g·L-1 without transfusion. After the sixth month treatment, 51/77 (66.2%) maintained Hb over 90g·L-1 without transfusion.When it came to the transfusion interval, 49 patients terminated transfusion with Hb over 90g·L-1, while 23 patients presented prolonged transfusion interval by the end of the sixth month treatment, comparing with baseline. Five patients consisted with regular transfusion without decreased volume or prolonged interval.