Assessment and comparison of the sensitivity and specificity of sickling and haemoglobin electrophoresis in haemolytic anaemia patients: A study protocol

Abstract

The present protocol will compare haemoglobin electrophoresis with sickling test, evaluating sensitivity, specificity, positive predicted value and negative predicted value of haemolytic anaemia patients. Haemoglobin electrophoresis is the confirmation test for sickle cell anaemia. Sickle cell anaemia is a type of haemolytic anaemia where red blood cells (RBC)’s biconcave form does not enable the best possible respiratory exchange. In haemolytic anaemia, EDTA is used to examine the peripheral smear stained with Giemsa stain. Peripheral smear shows polychromatic neutrophils, nucleated RBCs (Red blood cell) and fragmented RBCs. In haemolytic anaemia, patients have decreased haemoglobin (Hb) levels. In sickle cell disease (SCD), anaemia is brought about by a change in the DNA sequence of cells in the Hb beta-globin chain. Screening of the sickling test is done by using sodium metabisulfite to assess the shape of cells. Confirmation test of Hb electrophoresis on cellulose acetate paper uses band detection. This study will aim to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of Hb electrophoresis with the sickling test utilizing quantifiable investigation. The effectiveness of sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predicted values, and overall course of action for the two techniques, Hb electrophoresis and sickling test, will be collected. This research will also give an overview of existing haemolytic anaemia literature.