Haemoglobin S testing using HEA BeadChip™ technology: Lifeblood comparison with clinical diagnosis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Red cell antigen genotyping is commonly performed on patients requiring chronic transfusion support, such as sickle cell disease and thalassaemia. The Immucor HEA BeadChip™ test, in addition to assessing red cell antigen expression, can also detect the haemoglobin S (HbS) mutation. Our aim was to compare HbS results using HEA BeadChip™ performed at the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood with conventional haemoglobin studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with thalassaemia and sickle cell trait (SCT) or disease (SCD) referred for red cell genotyping between 2017 and 2019 were assessed. The HbS result obtained from HEA BeadChip™ was compared with that obtained from high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) performed by the referring pathology provider. RESULTS: One-hundred and nineteen cases had comparable HPLC and HEA BeadChip™ results. On HEA BeadChip™ testing, 40 cases showed a negative HbS result, 31 cases showed HbS+ and 47 cases showed HbS++. There was one case with 'low signal' result. Of the negative HbS cases, there was none with SCT. The HbS+ group comprised a mixture of SCT and SCD due to compound heterozygosity for HbS and ß-thalassaemia mutations. The HbS++ group comprised predominantly SCD due to homozygosity for HbS. CONCLUSION: HEA BeadChip™ is an accurate screening test for the detection of HbS. There were no false positives or false negatives. The identification of donors with the HbS mutation through the targeted genotyping programme would enable early intervention, improved donor management and reduced wastage.