Diagnostic utility of isoelectric focusing and high performance liquid chromatography in neonatal cord blood screening for thalassemia and non-sickling hemoglobinopathies.

Background: Thalassemia syndromes are highly prevalent in Southeast Asia. In Thailand, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the most common technique routinely performed in diagnosis of thalassemia and hemoglobinopathies, while isoelectric focusing (IEF) is rarely employed. We compared the diagnostic utility of IEF and HPLC in neonatal screening for thalassemia and non-sickling hemoglobinopathies.