The Frequency and Clinical Significance of Structural Haemoglobin Variants in Donor Blood at University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital

The Haemoglobin (Hb) genotypes of 1672 healthy blood donors at the university of Maiduguri Teaching hospital (UMTH) during the year 1999 were analysed. Hb AA, AS and SC were detected in 78.94%, 21% and 0.06% of the donor population respectively. There is the need for strict application of Hb electrophoresis on all donor blood in order to detect rare cases of mild forms of sickle cell disease who may present as donors. All blood banks should label their blood units with the appropriate tags to indicate the Hb genotype (Hb AA or Hb AS) status of the donor; and clinicians must indicate on transfusion request forms whenever the use of Hb AA rather than HbAS blood is specifically indicated as may be the case in the management of sickle cell disease patients on exchange transfusion. In this way we can improve the efficacy of transfusion therapy in sickle cell disease and related conditions (Nig J Surg Res 2000; 2:127-130) KEY WORDS: Haemoglobin Electrophoresis, Blood Dono