[Binding capacity of albumin: comparison of electrophoretic and spectrophotometric methods]

In the present study we intended to prove the reliability of the spectrophotometric method proposed by Ash et al. for the detection of the bilirubin binding capacity in the sera of icteric newborns, comparing it with the electrophoretic method. 40 sera, in which the value of the bilirubin was included between 0.10 and 26.24 mg/dl, with a distribution of values of bilirubin binding capacity between 0 and 16 mg/dl, were examined. The values of bilirubin binding capacity fixed by the spectrophotometric method are expressed as delta A, included between 70 and 245. The Authors feed the spectrophotometric method is unreliable in routine laboratory practice, because it does not allow an accurate identification of newborns exposed to risk of kernicterus.