Post-transfusion hypertension, convulsion and intracranial haemorrhage in beta-thalassemia major

The haematologic disorder b-thalassemia major is common in Pakistan. We describe a patient with undiagnosed thalassemia presenting with hypertension and convulsions and found to have cerebral haemorrhage on neuro-imaging. He had been transfused 2 weeks before this illness. Our experience is similar to a few case reports described in literature that were found to have cerebral haemorrhages post-mortem after a similar clinical presentation. All patients had a blood transfusion within 2 weeks prior to the presentation so association with transfusion has been proposed. We have reviewed the several mechanisms presented and discussed the findings. (author)