Association of thalassemia minor and lead intoxication in a patient who applied with hypochromic microcytic anemia

A 39 year old female patient who admitted to Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic of Dicle University Medical Faculty with symptoms of anxiety, fatigue and effort intolerance had a body mass index (BMI) of 32 kg/m 2 and pale conjunctivae. Etiological investigation of her anemia revealed a hypochromic microcytic anemia. Since, she had normal serum iron level, iron binding capacity and ferritin level, other causes of hypochromic anemia were investigated. Hemoglobin electrophoresis revealed HbA1, HbA2 and HbF values as 93.5%, 3.8% and 2.7%, respectively. In the atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS), a serum lead level of 1.01 ppm was measured. These findings of the patient were in accordance with the diagnosis of thalassemia minor and. The patient did not have an environmental or occupational risk factor for lead intoxication, and the only risk factor was found to be smoking. This case seems to be interesting for differential diagnosis of hypochromic microcytic anemia with the associated findings of both thalassemia minor and lead poisoning.