Modification of the acid elution technique for quantitation of fetal hemoglobin in individual erythrocytes.

A modification of the acid elution procedure for the demonstration of fetal hemoglobin in red cells using fast green stain is described. This technique not only permits improved visual estimation of the amount of fetal hemoglobin in red cells, but allows for the direct quantitation of fetal hemoglobin content of individual cells, using a scanning and integrating microdensitometer. As an application of this method, the distribution of fetal hemoglobin in populations of red cells of individuals was determined. Distributions were examined in sickle cell anemia patients with different proportions of fetal hemoglobin.