AB063. Prevalence of thalassemias and hemoglobinopathies detected via high performance liquid chromatography in Filipinos

Background: The thalassemias and hemoglobinopathies are groups of autosomal recessive inherited blood disorders affecting the quantity and quality of hemoglobin. Patients with the disease can vary from clinically asymptomatic to transfusion dependent individuals. It is considered prevalent in many parts of the world particularly in Southeast Asia. Thus, screening and prevalence determination of these diseases are important in the Filipino population. The study aims to determine the prevalence of thalassemias and hemoglobinopathies in the Philippines using high performance liquid chromatography.

Methods: Referred patients by hematologists from different parts of the country from October 2008 to December 2014 were included. Peripheral blood extracted from the subjects, were hemolyzed and screened for thalassemias and hemoglobinopathies using Variant^TM HPLC. Data interpretations were based on levels of the HbA2 Fetal Hb and HbA detected.

Results: Majority of the patients were beta thalassemics followed by alpha-thalassemics. Hemoglobin E was found in 1% of the population tested while 2% of the patients have beta thalassemia with HbE interaction.

Conclusions: A significant proportion of thalassemias and hemoglobinopathies were determined from the 6-year screening of Filipinos using Variant^TM HPLC. The results of this study provide not only confirmation of the occurrence and prevalence of these growing and diverse groups of genetic blood diseases but also suggest that the use of HPLC is a useful screening tool.

Keywords: Thalassemias; hemoglobinopathies; HPLC; Filipinos