Screening of Dry Blood Spots from Newborns by Two High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Systems: A Comparison of Their Ability to Diagnose Both Sickle and Non-sickle Hemoglobinopathies.

Screening of newborns for the presence of sickle hemoglobin (HbS) is aimed at reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with sickle cell disease in early childhood. The high cost and limited availability of dedicated high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems specially designed for screening of dry blood spots (DBS), however, restrict a wider application of this preventive approach. Therefore, we examined the ability of a commonly used HPLC system for detection of hemoglobinopathies in DBS samples in order to find an alternative for the dedicated newborn screening (NBS) HPLC system.

Persistently elevated laboratory markers of thrombosis and fibrinolysis after clinical recovery in malaria points to residual and smouldering cellular damage.

Screening coagulation tests and assays for thrombosis and fibrinolysis were performed in 80 cases of malaria at presentation and during the course of the disease. Close correlation between the degree of thrombocytopenia (observed in >97% cases) and the presence hemorrhagic manifestations at presentation, and improvement in the platelet count in parallel with clinical recovery emphasised the role of platelets in the pathogenesis of coagulopathy in malaria. A potential selection bias resulting from inclusion of only patients admitted at a tertiary care hospital could explain the higher incidence (27.

Distant testing in laboratory hematology and flow cytometry--the Indian experience.

Outsourcing or sending out of patients' samples to other laboratories for hematologic investigations is a common practice these days. Preanalytic variables that alter cellular parameters and levels of analytes in transit and on storage can significantly and adversely affect interpretation of test results in hematology. Awareness of these changes is necessary to avoid misinterpretation of results that in turn could influence medical management decisions.

High serum transferrin receptor level in anemia of chronic disorders indicates coexistent iron deficiency.

Blood transferrin receptor (TR) level is largely determined by the quantum of erythropoiesis and by intracellular iron content of the cells of the erythroid lineage. Hence, a high serum TR level has been found to be useful in distinguishing iron deficiency anemia (IDA) from anemia of chronic disorders (ACD). In order to examine its potential role in the diagnosis of concomitant iron deficiency in ACD, we determined serum TR levels in 130 cases of ACD, in 25 cases of IDA, and in 40 normal adults.