Molecular Diagnostic Approach Prevails Superior Over Conventional GelElectrophoresis Method in Detecting Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle cell anemia is defined as homozygosity caused by the mutation of the glutamic acid residue to valine in the β-globin gene. Sickle cell disease is an increasing global health burden with the estimated number of patients increasing in a concerning manner. Here we report a very interesting and clinically insightful case of hemoglobinopathy which was initially suspected to be Hb S/D Punjab- a rare type of hemoglobinopathy as diagnosed by the hemoglobinelectrophoresis technique. Despite the diagnosis report indicating the rare Hb S/D Punjab, the uncharacteristic clinical presentation of the patient which was not coherent with the classical symptoms of Hb S/D Punjab, forced the clinicians to turn their attention to molecular diagnosis. To clarify the etiology of the clinical case, a sequencing-based molecular diagnosis approach was adopted that revealed the mutational signature of sickle cell anemia (SCA). This case can be regarded as a prominent example where the molecular techniques lead to the correct diagnosis matching with the clinical symptoms while the conventional diagnostic approach failed.