Further studies on the quantitation of the hemoglobins A, S, C, and F in newborn babies with different hemoglobinopathies using high pressure liquid chromatography.

High pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been used for the detection and quantitation of the beta chain variants Hb S and Hb C in blood samples of newborn babies with different hemoglobinopathies. The complete separation of the Hbs C, S, A, and F made it possible to diagnose conditions such as AS AC, SS, CC, SC and even S(C)-beta+ thalassemia. The procedure is fast (62 min) and ideally suited for the quantitation of Hb F at birth. Data for a few hundred cord blood samples indicate a great variability in the relative quantities of Hb S or Hb C in heterozygotes which prevents a definitive diagnosis of a simultaneously occurring alpha-thalassemia except perhaps of the homozygous form of alpha-thalassemia-2 (alpha o alpha/alpha o alpha). The large spread in the data also shows some overlap between the quantitative results in Hb S (or Hb C) heterozygotes and in babies with the Hb S (Hb C)-beta-thalassemia condition.