[Changes in the hemoglobin A2 level of patients with ischemic heart disease].

40 patients with ischemic heart disease were studied. In 60% of them a higher content of HbA2 was found. These data for higher frequency of HbA2 among the patients with ischemic heart disease do not correspond with the average incidence of the genetically determined anomaly A2-beta-thalassemia among the Bulgarian population. The negative data for increased methemoglobin, the shift of the oxygen dissociation curve to the right toward increased oxygen release from the hemoglobin molecule, the normalization of HbA2 after several days, the lack of anomalous fraction in the analyses lead to the conclusion that HbA2 plays a compensatory role in patients with ischemic heart disease and its dynamic changes could be used as a diagnostic test for ischemia.