Hemoglobin Villejuif [beta 123(H1) Thr----Ile]: a new variant found in coincidence with polycythemia vera.

A new abnormal hemoglobin, Hb Villejuif [beta 123(H1) Thr----Ile] has been discovered during the exploration of a polycythemia in a 87-year-old patient of French origin. The isoelectric focusing of the lysate revealed the presence of a variant hemoglobin with an isoelectric point very close to that of HbA. The oxygen binding properties of the patient's red blood cells being normal, it was clear that the polycythemia was not a consequence of the presence of this hemoglobin. In fact, the red blood cell morphology and the involvement of the other blood cell lines, demonstrating excessive hemopoiesis, led to the diagnosis of polycythemia vera.