Haemolytic crises due to glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in the mid-southern region of Turkey.

Clinical and laboratory evaluation of 60 boys with hemizygous, 12 girls with homozygous, and 11 girls with heterozygous erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency was made during haemolytic crisis. The main clinical symptoms were paleness, dark urine and oliguria. Only one patient needed peritoneal dialysis. Coexistence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency associated with haemoglobinopathy was found to be higher than expected (32 out of 83 cases). Also, the high prevalence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency among females with homozygous and heterozygous disease was surprising. The precipitating factors of haemolysis were variable. Rather than antimalarial and antipyretic-analgesic drugs, infections seemed to be the main haemolytic factor.