Patients Who Are Heterozygous for Hb Lepore Have a Clinical $\beta$

Patients who are heterozygous for Hb Lepore have a clinical course:

A) That is completely benign
B) Similar to that of $\beta$ -thalassemia minor
C) Similar to that of $\alpha$ -thalassemia minor (one gene deletion)
D) Similar to that of $\beta$ -thalassemia major