A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science, Johannesburg, 2012Loonat, Sakina Bibi2014-02-132014-02-132014-02-13http://hdl.handle.net10539/13748A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science, Johannesburg, 2013At the University of Witwatersrand academic hospitals, unexplained microcytosis is a commonly encountered clinical problem. The differential diagnosis of microcytosis includes iron deficiency, anaemia of chronic disorder, sideroblastic anaemia (both congenital and acquired e.g. lead poisoning) and thalassaemia trait. α thalassaemia trait is most often not detected through conventional laboratory methods and molecular analysis becomes necessary in this setting.enThalassaemiaThesis