Introduction: Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is an important parameter in monitoring diabetic patients. Using adequate methods is essential to obtain reliable results. The aim of the study is to compare four methods used to measure HbA1c. Material and methods: The majority of the samples were analyzed at the Central Laboratory of the County Emergency Hospital in Târgu Mureş using the Variant Hemoglobin Testing System (Bio-Rad). Several results were obtained working on the new generation of this analyzer called Variant II (Edmonton, Canada). We also used the Biomidi reagent kit working with a manual chromatographic method, and some samples were analyzed with Micromat II (Bio-Rad). Results: The values obtained by different methods showed good correlation (r>0,9) except samples of patients presenting hemoglobin variants and those preserved inadequately. Automatic methods exhibit several advantages compared to manual methods. Conclusions: Dosage of glycated hemoglobin results in reliable values regarding carbohydrate metabolic balance in diabetic patients performing any of the methods mentioned, providing useful information concerning therapy.
Keywords: glycated hemoglobin, diabetes mellitus