NESTROFT AS A SCREENING-TEST FOR THE DETECTION OF THALASSEMIA AND COMMON HEMOGLOBINOPATHIES - AN EVALUATION AGAINST A HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHIC METHOD

The NESTROFT method (Naked Eye Single Tube Red Cell Osmotic Fragility Test) was evaluated against a high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for its usefulness in screening for beta-thalassaemia an d some of the common haemoglobinopathies. Blood samples (137) from pat ients with suspected haemoglobin disorders were analyzed by both metho ds. Among the 63 patients with heterozygous beta-thalassaemia on HPLC, NESTROFT was positive for 49, 'doubtful' for 13 and negative for 1. O f the 32 patients with other haemoglobin disorders, 28 were positive o n NESTROFT and 4 were 'doubtful'. Of the 42 'normal' samples, NESTROFT was positive for 6, 'doubtful' for 8 and negative for 28. This test s howed an overall sensitivity of 98.7 per cent, specificity of 66.6 per cent, positive predictive value of 87 per cent and negative predictiv e value of 96.5 per cent, We conclude that, NESTROFT is a suitable tes t for screening for beta-thalassaemia and the common haemoglobinopathi es seen in India, It is easy to perform, simple, inexpensive and does not require sophisticated equipment. Subjects who are NESTROFT 'positi ve' or 'doubtful' deserve further Investigation.