Biochemical diagnosis in sickle cell disease.

Seventy-four sicklers with bone pain had blood taken for biochemical analysis of the haemoglobins carried. Sixty-five patients with sickle cell disease diagnosed as Hb S/S disease, five patients diagnosed as Hb A/S and four patients with three haemoglobin bands corresponding to Hb's A, S and C were used in this quantitative reassessment on cellulose acetate. Haemoglobin A2 level was determined in all cases and alkali resistant haemoglobin level in twenty-nine cases. The significance of raised Hb A2 levels in some of these cases is discussed with relation to the possible existence of Hb S/beta-Thalassaemia in the sickle cell disease patients examined.