Heterogeneity of sickle cell anaemia in Arabs: review of cases with various amounts of fetal haemoglobin.

A study is presented on eleven patients with homozygous sickle cell anaemia. They are non-Sheeah Arabs from the United Arab Emirates on the south-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. The proportions of fetal haemoglobin in these patients are variable, and there is a marked variation in the severity of their disease condition; these facts are not related. African sickle cell gene admixture is a likely affecting factor.