title: Evaluation of the Sebia Minicap Flex Piercing capillary electrophoresis for hemoglobinopathy testing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) at alkaline pH is one of the techniques used for hemoglobinopathy screening. In this study, an evaluation of the performance of a lower throughput CZE instrument, the Sebia Minicap Flex Piercing system, for this purpose is reported for the first time.
  
  
  METHODS
  The analytical performance of the Sebia Minicap Flex Piercing system was evaluated. Furthermore, a method comparison between the Sebia Minicap Flex Piercing and two HPLC methods, that is, the Bio-Rad Variant Classic(™) and the Bio-Rad D-10(™) systems was performed by measuring samples with and without clinically relevant hemoglobin disorders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analytical performance was acceptable for the determination of HbA, HbA2, HbS, and HbF, with an imprecision ≤2.0%. Method comparison showed a linear correlation for HbA2, HbF, and HbS measurements. Clinical concordance was acceptable when comparing CZE and HPLC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lower throughput CZE using the Sebia Minicap Flex Piercing can be used for precise and accurate first line screening and follow-up of hemoglobinopathies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oyaert
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van Laer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Claerhout
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vermeersch
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Desmet
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pauwels
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kieffer
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000379:methods*; D005319:Fetal Hemoglobin / Q000737:chemistry; D006443:Hemoglobin A2 / Q000737:chemistry; D006451:Hemoglobin, Sickle / Q000737:chemistry; D006453:Hemoglobinopathies / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D006451:Hemoglobin, Sickle; D006454:Hemoglobins; D006443:Hemoglobin A2; D005319:Fetal Hemoglobin
keywords: Hemoglobinopathy; capillary zone electrophoresis; hemoglobin variants; thalassemia