Sickle Cell Anaemia: Errors in Haemoglobin Genotyping: Impact on Parents of Children Attending Two Hospitals in South East Nigeria

Objectives: The study is aimed at determining that errors in assigning genotypes to intending couples do exist; and the impact of these errors on parents. Methods: The study was conducted at the children clinics in Enugu and Abakiliki, south east Nigeria. It is a cross-sectional retrospective study in which a review of the records of all the children attending 2 private clinics in Enugu and Abakaliki of Enugu and Ebonyi states respectively, over a 3-year period was done. Results: A total of 6006 children attended the children clinics over the study period. Twenty three (23) of them had sickle cell anaemia. Out of the 23 cases 10 (43.5%) were males and 13 (56.5%) were females. Male to female ratio was 1:1.3. The commonest features were abdominal and leg pains, involving 20 (87%) and 21 (91.3 %) respectively. Among the 23 parents that had their genotypes repeated, 9 males had different genotypes from what they had during courtship or before marriage. The genotypes of all the females that could recall their genotypes before marriage or during courtship were the same after a repeat test. Conclusions: There exist errors in assigning genotypes to parents which at the end made them have children with sickle cell anemia, unwittingly, with serious consequences bordering on strained relationship between the parents with the children bearing the brunt.