This was a retrospective study using 174 whole blood samples encompassing the 5 most common (Hb A, A2鈥? S, C, and E) and 10 rare (Hb GPhilidelphia, D, H, Bart's, OArab, S/GPhilidelphia, Hasharoon, QIndia, NBaltimore, and Malmo) hemoglobin variants. An additional 126 samples were used to establish a CE reference interval for Hb A2.
Hb A measurements agreed well between the 2 methods (bias = 鈭?#xA0;0.06;r = 0.999). The agreement of Hb F was also very good (bias = 鈭?#xA0;0.17; r = 0.994). When samples with the highest Hb F concentration were excluded, agreement was less precise (bias = 鈭?#xA0;0.44; r = 0.811). When no variant was present, the Hb A2 concentrations showed excellent agreement (bias = 0.00; r = 0.994). Positive bias for Hb A2 is seen when Hb C is present using CE. The Hb A2 reference interval using CE was < 3.2%.
The Capillarys Flex is capable of identifying and quantifying hemoglobin species, consistent with existing HPLC methods.