Capillarys 2 Flex Piercing Detected a Rare Case of Hb Broomhill

We report a case of an extremely rare hemoglobin (Hb) variant-Hb Broomhill, which has been only reported once in the literature. Hemoglobin fractions were determined by capillary electrophoresis (Sebia Capillarys 2 Flex piercing) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) (Bio-Rad Variant™ II Hemoglobin Testing System), respectively. Complete blood count and DNA sequencing were also performed. The capillary electrophoregram revealed a tiny shoulder peak before the HbA peak and a subtle abnormal HbA peak (slightly wider and lower), even though the percentage of each hemoglobin fraction was within the reference range (HbA, 97.4%; HbA , 2.6%). On HPLC, not only the percentage but also the peak shape of each hemoglobin fraction was normal (HbA 88.2%, HbA 2.5%, HbF 0.6%). Eventually, sequencing analysis of α genes confirmed a missense mutation (CCC>GCC at codon 114 in alpha1 gene) which caused Hb Broomhill variant. Our report suggest that capillary electrophoresis may be an accurate tool for screening and diagnosis of Hb disorders.