RAPID MULTICOMPONENT ANALYSIS OF HEMOGLOBIN DERIVATIVES FOR CONTROLLED ANTIDOTAL USE OF METHEMOGLOBIN-FORMING AGENTS IN CYANIDE POISONING

When cyanide poisoning is treated with a methemoglobin-forming agent, oxidative metabolism is protected at the expense of the oxygen capacit y of the blood.The affinity of methemoglobin for CN- is high enough to compete with cytochrome oxidase, which protects the latter from becom ing blocked, but all hemoglobin used for this purpose is lost for the transport of oxygen. Therefore, the fractions of the various hemoglobi n derivatives present in the blood should be carefully monitored durin g this kind of treatment. After we had developed a multiwavelength spe ctrophotometric method for this purpose, we studied the feasibility of using a modified commercial six-wavelength hemoglobin photometer (Rad iometer OSM3) for easy and rapid analysis of methemoglobin and methemo globin cyanide in small samples of blood. All conditions appeared to b e fulfilled for the construction of a practical multiwavelength photom eter for reliably monitoring methemoglobin therapy in patients with cy anide poisoning, even in the presence of carboxyhemoglobin, as often o ccurs in fire victims.