Blood transfusions leading to apparent hemoglobin C, S, and O-Arab hemoglobinopathies.

Context: Apparent hemoglobinopathies caused by blood transfusions rarely have been reported in the scientific literature.

Objective: To interpret the abnormal hemoglobins appearing as small peaks on hemoglobin chromatograms or electrophoresis membranes.

Design: In the clinical laboratories of a university hospital and a metropolitan hospital affiliated with a medical school, we interpreted hemoglobin chromatograms and electrophoresis membranes; correlated them with patients' medical, laboratory, and transfusion records; and when possible, identified the abnormal hemoglobin in the donors' transfusion segments.

Spurious hemoglobin Barts caused by bilirubin: a common interference mimicking an uncommon hemoglobinopathy.

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is replacing electrophoresis for identification of hemoglobin variants. Our objective was to identify unknown tall peaks with elution times and shapes of hemoglobin Barts found on hemoglobin chromatograms that could not be confirmed by alkaline and acid gel electrophoresis. Of 90 specimens identified with this peak, 86 were from patients with hemoglobin SS.