Haemoglobin electrophoresis patterns in Barbados

ABSTRACT

Despite the extensive data on haemoglobinopathies and their widespread geographic distribution, the number of prospective Caribbean studies which document the prevalence of haemoglobinopathies from birth are few. The purpose of this cohort study was to document the prevalence of haemoglobinopathies in newborn infants in Barbados. One thousand successively collected cord bloods of newborn infants were screened for haemoglobinopathies using the Paragon acid electrophoresis technique. Seventeen infants were retested at 1 year of age to confirm the diagnosis. Three mothers could not be located so their infants' diagnoses could not be confirmed. From the 997 blood samples with conclusive results, a haemoglobinopathy was found in 72 (7 percent) samples. Laboratory analysis revealed 925 patients (93 percent) with Hb AA, 41 (4 percent) with Hb AS, 27 (2.7 percent) with Hb AC, 2 (0.2 percent) with Hb SS, 1 (0.1 percent) with Hb CC and 1 (0.1 percent) with Hb SC. The prevalence of sickle gene and number of cases of Sickle Cell anaemia in the Barbadian population is less than has been reported from other regional territories.(AU)