Serum pigment studies in newborn infants. I. Erythroblastosis fetalis.

Serum pigments in infants with erythroblastosis fetalis have been studied spectrophotometrically by Abelson and Boggs 1 and by Waters and co-workers. 2 Recently Boggs and Abelson 3 have determined alkaline hematin levels in erythroblastosis fetalis in an effort to evaluate the severity of the disease. A major difficulty associated with spectrophotometric studies of serum is that withdrawal of blood and separation of plasma or serum is practically always attended by hemolysis to some degree. Hemoglobin thus released may contribute significantly to light absorption, particularly in the region of 415 mμ. We have overcome this difficulty by separating the hemoglobin from other serum pigments by paper electrophoresis, following which spectrophotometric analyses have been done without the interference of hemoglobin. ANALYTICAL METHODS Multiple blood specimens were collected for analysis ( a ) from the umbilical vein at the time of delivery immediately after pulsation had ceased, ( b ) from the umbilical or femoral vein before,