hemoglobin c disorder in anemic patients referred to the national center for thalassemia and genetic counseling in damascus

Background: hemoglobinopathies are common inherited blood disorders in our mediterranean area. the main structural hemoglobin variants are hemoglobin s and hemoglobin c, due to their prevalence.we conducted this retrospective study to investigate and characterize hemoglobin c patients referred to the national center for thalassemia and genetic counseling and the management of hemoglobin c disease in damascus.materials and methods: the study included patients referred to the national center for thalassemia and genetic counseling in damascus between 2000 and 2022 for hemoglobin c detection. gender, age, geographical origin, hemoglobin electrophoresis profile, and blood transfusion were considered for hemoglobin c patient classification. blood transfusion in five consecutive years and linear regression with hemoglobin s and c values were determined.results: 30 (14 males and 16 females) out of 624 patients between 3 and 46 years old (mean ± sd: 17.3 ± 9.7 years) showed hemoglobin c disease. only eight patients (one male and seven females) received blood transfusions, and the remaining patients (13 males and 9 females) did not receive any transfusion. only one patient with 100% hemoglobin c was detected; 19 showed hbsc, and 10 had hbac. there was a significant correlation between hemoglobin s and geographical origin (p-value=0).conclusion: a homozygote hemoglobin c patient has mild hemolytic anemia, whereas the hemoglobin c 100% patient has only a one-time blood transfusion (he was 17 years old) in our study. the inherited combination of hemoglobin c and s is less severe than hemoglobin s alone. there is a significant relationship between hemoglobin s and geographical origin (p-value=0).