Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease:
Time for a New Optimism

Bilateral Workshop
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, USA and
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarth, India.

• Download the announcement
• About Chandigarh
• Hotel Accommodations
• Registration form
• Agenda
• Schedule:
  • Saturday
  • Sunday
• Poster Guidelines
• Contact us

ABSTRACTS

Last Date for Abstract Submission is 15th October, 2016.

Please email abstracts to prashant.sh@gmail.com with a CC to sharma.prashant@pgimer.edu.in. Only emailed abstracts will be accepted. You will receive an email acknowledgement of receipt within 48 hours. If not received, please enquire at the above email addresses.

1. The word limit for abstracts is 300 words.
2. Authors may include up to a total of two figures and/or tables in the abstract. The words in the the table and figure legends are to be included in the 300-word limit. Figures should be black-and-white only.
3. Abstracts for research studies should be structured as Introduction, Methods, Results and Conclusions. For case reports, divide the abstract into Introduction, Case description(s) and Conclusions.
4. lease provide full authors names in the order "first name surname". Avoid initials unless absolutely necessary.
5. List affiliations (including position, department and institute) for each of the authors. Please do not list degrees.
6. Underline the name of the presenting author, and provide an email address for communication.
7. Abstracts may be submitted in any of the broad subject areas/topics mentioned on the webpage Technical Agenda topics.

Please note:

• The presenting author must be a registered delegate.
• There is no limit on the number of abstracts submitted per author.

SAMPLE ABSTRACT:

(please use as template for formatting your submission)

Title: Effect of antiretroviral therapy on hemoglobin A2 values: Implications in antenatal beta-thalassemia screening programs. Authors: Priyanka Bhagat, Ravinder Kaur Sachdeva, Prashant Sharma, Man Updesh Singh Sachdeva, Sanjeev Chhabra, Aman Sharma, Reena Das. Affiliations: PB, PS, MUSS, SC, RD: Department of Hematology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India. RKS: Center of Excellence in HIV Care, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India. AS: Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India. Email for communication: dummymail@abc.com

Abstract:

Introduction: Raised hemoglobin-A2 (HbA2) is the diagnostic hallmark of beta-thalassemia trait (βTT). Diagnostic difficulties may arise in HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). We compared the effect of various antiretroviral drugs on HbA2 levels. We attempted to determine which drugs elevate HbA2 levels causing a false-positive diagnosis of βTT and correlate the findings with red cell indices.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of the records of an antenatal thalassemia screening program was carried out for 78 HIV-positive adults (70 antenatal women and 8 husbands) to study the effect of antiretroviral drugs on HbA2 levels. Three had βTT; 20 treatment-naive subjects constituted controls. The effects of zidovudine (36 cases), stavudine (7 cases), and tenofovir (12 cases) were evaluated. High-performance liquid chromatography was done for HbA2 levels. Values of 3.5-3.9% were borderline and?=?4% with hypochromic microcytosis was considered to be βTT.

Results: Twenty individuals not on ART had normal HbA2%. Three patients had βTT and showed hypochromic microcytosis despite being on zidovudine. Fourteen of 55 patients on treatment (25.5%) had borderline HbA2 values (mean 3.7%): 11 were on a zidovudine-based regimen and 3 on a stavudine-based regimen. One patient on zidovudine had 4.1% HbA2 with normal Hb and severe macrocytosis (MCV 128.5 fl), leading to a false suspicion of βTT. All patients on tenofovir had normal HbA2. Hematological parameters, including mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), and HbA2 levels were increased due to antiretroviral drugs zidovudine and stavudine.

Conclusions: Treatment-naive subjects and those on tenofovir showed no effect on HbA2 levels compared with zidovudine and stavudine. A proportion of patients on zidovudine or stavudine had borderline elevated HbA2 levels, which could lead to a false impression of βTT.

POSTERS

POSTER PRINTING GUIDELINES:

1. The usable poster board size is 120 cm high x 90 cm wide (portrait format).
2. The venue for poster presentation is Zakir Hall, Research Block A, PGIMER.
3. Thumb pins will be provided at the venue. Please pin up your poster only on the board allocated to you. Poster numbers will be communicated previously to the presenting author. A list will also be displayed at the venue.
4. Posters must be displayed by the presenter by 10 am on 5th November, 2016.
5. Poster judging will be done from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm on the 5th of November, 2016. Please ensure that you are present next to your poster to answer the judges' queries.
6. Posters should be removed after lunch on 6th November, 2016. The organizers shall be unable to take responsibility for posters that are not removed by 5:30 pm on 6th November, 2016.

SUGGESTIONS ON SCIENTIFIC POSTER FORMATTING AND COMMUNICATION

• Don't overload your poster. Seek simplicity, keep text to a minimum and avoid redundancies.
  
  
• As a general guideline, use 500 to 1000 words (including title, figure legends and tables).
  
  
• The figures and tables should not cover >50% of the poster area.
  
  
• Prepare a 20 cm high title strip that runs the full width of the poster. Use a black and bold typeface, not smaller than 3 cm in height for the title and at least 2 cm for author's names and affiliations (the height refers to capital and tall letters)
  
  
• The average reader spends 1-2 minutes on your poster. Highlight your main finding(s). Most of us start by reading the Conclusions. Put them on eye level, either on top of the right column or alternatively start with the Conclusions. Otherwise, structure your poster by Introduction, Methods and Results. State your Aims at the end of the introduction.
  
  
• Use 2-3 columns. You may provide key references.
  
  
• The poster is supposed to be readable from a distance of 1.5-2 m. The text should definitely be no less than 5 mm for capitals and tall letters, and preferably larger. Use a constant font throughout the poster.
  
  
• Prepare a short oral presentation of 3-4 minutes to be offered to those who prefer to listen to you before reading the poster for themselves.
  
  

Revised 10/10/2016