A first-line diagnostic method in a haemoglobinopathy laboratory should be able to provisionally identify all the relatively common, diagnostically important, normal and variant haemoglobins.
In addition, precise quantification of haemoglobin A2 by the primary method or a supplementary method is required and, in some circumstances, quantification of normal and variant haemoglobins will also be needed.
The two major roles of the haemoglobinopathy laboratory are the recognition of clinically important variant haemoglobins and the accurate and precise quantification of haemoglobin A2 for the diagnosis of β-thalassaemia heterozygosity. Both roles can be met by capillary electrophoresis (CE) and, specifically, the Sebia Capillarys 2 Flex Piercing instrument has been shown to be a suitable technique for the diagnosis of β-thalassaemia and the detection of variant haemoglobins.
The experience of four hospital sites now using CE as a front-line method in the diagnosis of haemoglobinopathies is featured in this issue.