A rare alpha chain variant hemoglobin St Luke’s reported for the first time in India – A case report

The ever-increasing gamut of hemoglobin (Hb) variants comprises a majority that appear to be both clinically and hematologically silent, but often present with difficulties in interpretation of high-performance liquid chromatography histograms as well as Hb electrophoresis. The challenges faced in the reporting and characterization of these Hbopathies are circumvented by the use of molecular techniques. Here, we report a rare alpha chain variant, Hb St Luke’s that was incidentally detected during routine laboratory work-up carried out for an adult male patient. We report the first case of this Hb variant from India.