title: Hb Melusine and Hb Athens-Georgia: potentially underreported in the Belgian population? Four cases demonstrating the lack of detection using common CE-HPLC methods either for glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) analysis or Hb variant screening.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Suspected hemoglobin (Hb) variants, detected during HbA1Cmeasurements should be further investigated, determining the extent of the interference with each method.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is the first report of Hb Melusine and Hb Athens-Georgia in Caucasian Belgian patients. Intervention & Technique: Since common CE-HPLC methods for HbA1Canalysis or Hb variant screening are apparently unable to detect these Hb variants, their presence might be underestimated. HbA1Canalysis using CZE, however, alerted for their presence. Moreover, in case of Hb Melusine, even Hb variant screening using CZE was unsuccessful in its detection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fortunately, carriage of Hb Melusine or Hb Athens-Georgia variants has no clinical implications and, as shown in this report, no apparent difference in HbA1Cshould be expected.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Laboratory Medicine , University Hospitals Leuven , Leuven , Belgium.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peeters
authors.affiliation: b Department of Laboratory Medicine , Onze-Lieve-Vrouwziekenhuis Hospital Aalst , Aalst , Belgium.
authors.forename: Inger
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.affiliation: a Department of Laboratory Medicine , University Hospitals Leuven , Leuven , Belgium.
authors.forename: Koenraad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Desmet
authors.affiliation: c Clinical Genetics Laboratory for Diagnostic Genome Analysis, Hemoglobinopathies Laboratory , Leiden University Medical Center , Leiden , The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cornelis L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Harteveld
authors.affiliation: a Department of Laboratory Medicine , University Hospitals Leuven , Leuven , Belgium.
authors.forename: Davy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kieffer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis*; D006455:Hemoglobins, Abnormal / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D006455:Hemoglobins, Abnormal; C085475:hemoglobin Melusine; C060131:hemoglobin Athens-Georgia
keywords: CE-HPLC; Glycated hemoglobin; Hb Athens-Georgia; Hb Melusine; HbA1C