Blood volume assessment with hemoglobin subtype analysis in preterm infants.

The aim of the study was to assess plasma volume (PV) and red cell volume (RCV) in preterm infants with a liquid chromatographic hemoglobin subtype method (HbST) based on dilution of autologous fetal hemoglobin (HbF) by donor adult hemoglobin and measurement of the amount of HbF. PV determination with the indocyanine green dye dilution technique (ICG) was used as a reference method. Eight infants, median gestational age 29.8 weeks (range 27.6-30.9 weeks) and median birth weight 1,300 g (range 1,030-1,760 g), were studied at a median age of 3.0 days (range 1-6 days). RCV was 33.6 +/- 12 ml/kg measured with ICG and 32.1 +/- 5.2 ml/kg with HbST. PV was 47.0 +/- 18 and 40.2 +/- 6.6 ml/kg, respectively. There was a close correlation between the RCVs measured with the two techniques (Pearson correlation 0.83, p < 0.05). In conclusion, HbST provides a reliable and safe determination of RCV in preterm infants.