Ocular manifestations of hemoglobin S-C disease.

Three patients with hemoglobin S-C disease, all with ocular lesions, were studied and contrasted with four other patients who had predominantly either hemoglobin S or C but no ocular lesions. Attention is drawn to the diagnostic value of hemoglobin electrophoresis in such cases. With this technique a diagnosis of hemoglobin S-C disease was made in a patient previously thought to the "Eales' disease"; one sister was found to have asymptomatic hemoglobin S-C disease and unsuspected early ocular lesions. The number of persons in Canada with hemoglobinopathies is increasing. Awareness of an association between abnormal hemoglobins and ocular disease may lead to the recognition of an unsuspected blood disorder or of an unsuspected retinopathy.