On the Optical Properties of the Hemoglobin in Microdrepanocytic Disease

In analogy with sickle cell anemia of the Negro, white carriers of the sickle cell trait and patients with microdrepanocytic disease show sickling which is associated with the presence of type S hemoglobin. The sickled cells are birefringent and the reduced hemoglobin forms tactoids which reveal a striking resemblance to the sickled erythrocytes.

The mean retardation of each sickled red cell is 7.5 ± 0.15 mµ and the birefringence is approximately 0.0037.