Prenatal Detection Of Hb Bart'S Disease In Maternal Blood

Fetal cells from maternal blood have been long sought after, for prenatal diagnosis of hereditary diseases. We investigated a non-invasive technique for early detection of Hemoglobin (Hb) Bart's disease caused by homozygous alpha (-(SEA)) deletion. Maternal peripheral blood smears from 9 affected pregnancies were studied with control blood smears and stained with fluorescence-labeled antibodies against alpha- and embryonic zeta-globin chains. Erythrocytes from control smears expressed a- globin. Fetal red blood cells, stained with anti-C but not with anti-alpha globin antibodies, were found in all affected pregnancies. Results showed that non-invasive immunofluorescence staining of maternal blood is a feasible approach for screening Hb Bart's disease.