NESTROFT ( Naked Eye Single Tube Red Cell Osmotic Fragility Test) is a screening test for detection of beta thalassemia trait. Thalassemia screening Widespead prevlence of thalessemia has led to a pressing demand for community, screening. Various methods for screening of thalassemia trait are available which include peripheral smear examination, RBC indices, 1VIeintzer's fraction, discriminant functions, NESTROFT etc. NESTROFT TEST is used in many centres in India for screening of thalassemia trait. If mother is NESTROFT positive, the confirmatory test for HbA2 is done for mother and the father is subjected to screening by NESTROFT. If father is also NESTROFT positive, confirmatory test for HbA2 is done for father. If both the parents have thalessemia trait, there is 1:4 chance of fetus having thalassemia major. Therefore, prenatal diagnosis is done by chorionic villus sampling (CVS) in first trimester. If CVS confirms the fetus to be having thalasemia major, termination of pregnancy is indicated after counseling the parents. If the fetus has thalassemia minor (trait) pregnancy is continued as such and baby will have normal lifespan. It is worth noting here that a positive NESTROFT test is seen in other conditions beside beta thalassemia trait. These are iron deficiency anemia, alpha thalassemia trait, homozygous and heterozygous HbE, HbS as well as hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin. Therefore, a positive NESTROFT test should always be followed by a confirmatory test for HBA2 ( eg. serum electrophoresis).
Sign up free to access AI-powered MCQ practice with detailed explanations and adaptive learning.