English 
Italian La metodica capillare per la misura della emoglobina glicata consente di rilevare varianti emoglobiniche
Capilalry mthod for measuring glycated hemoglobin allows the detection of hemoglobin variants
AUTORI
1UOC Patologia Clinica HUB 3, PO San Filippo Neri, ASL ROMA 1
2UOSD Genetica Medica, Centro Sant’Anna, ASL ROMA 1
ABSTRACT
Capilalry mthod for measuring glycated hemoglobin allows the detection of hemoglobin variants
Diabetes mellitus is a worldwide disease and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is the gold standard for the diagnosis and monitoring. Hemoglobin variants can interfere with HbA1c measurement in both preanalytical and analytical phases, and their incidental detection is continuously increasing, due to the recent migration waves. In the Roma 1 HUB Laboratory, HbA1c is measured by capillary electrophoresis (CE). A 51-year-old man from Bangladesh underwent HbA1c analysis and a variant was evident in the electrophoretic pattern. After informed consent for further analysis was given, a hemoglobin electrophoresis by CE was performed. A suspected HbE was found and then confirmed by molecular testing. The patient showed mild microcytosis and hypochromia, but no anemia. The presence of the variant HbE was without influence on HbA1c measurement by CE. This technique offers the advantage to detect hemoglobin variants as well as a reliable measurement of hemoglobin A2 (HbA2). These features allow a correct diagnosis of thalassemia and hemoglobinopathies without interfering with HbA1c measurement.