• The Korean Journal of Blood Transfusion
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.320-327
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• 2018

A 72-year-old man with general weakness visited the outpatient clinic of the hematology department. The patient had been treated under the diagnosis of autoimmune hemolytic anemia for 2 years. His hemoglobin level at the time of the visit was 6.3 g/dL, and a blood transfusion was requested to treat his anemia. The patient's blood type was A, RhD positive. Antibody screening and identification test showed agglutination in all reagent cells with a positive reaction to autologous red blood cells (RBCs). He had a prior transfusion history with three least incompatible RBCs. The patient returned home after receiving one unit of leukoreduced filtered RBC, which was the least incompatible blood in the crossmatching test. After approximately five hours, however, fever, chills, dyspnea, abdominal pain, and hematuria appeared and the patient returned to the emergency room next day after the transfusion. The $anti-Fy^a$ antibody, which was masked by the autoantibody, was identified after autoadsorption using polyethylene glycol. He was diagnosed with an acute hemolytic transfusion reaction due to $anti-Fy^a$ that had not been detected before the transfusion. In this setting, it is necessary to consider the identification of coexisting alloantibodies in patients with autoantibodies and to become more familiar with the method of autoantibody adsorption.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.98-104
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• 2020

Thalassemias are considered important health issues throughout Iraq, involving its Kurdistan region. This disorder, particularly its major form, needs lifelong regular transfusions. But this form of medical care is associated with various complications including red cell alloimmunization and autoimmunization. This study determined the frequency and associations of alloimmunization among multi-transfused patients with β-thalassemia major. The subjects were 204 patients who were registered at a thalassemia care center in Sulaymaniyah-Iraqi Kurdistan. The patients' records were analyzed, their red cells were phenotyped for ABO/RhD antigens using the gel card method, and irregular antibody screening/identification was performed using the standard tube method. Alloantibodies were detected in 5.8% of the patients, while DAT was positive in 4% of the patients, which indicated autoantibodies. The identified alloantibodies were anti-E (2.4%), anti-C (1.4%), anti-e (1%), and anti-K (1%). A patient's age at the start of transfusion (>2 years) (P=0.042) and a positive history of transfusion reactions (P=0.003) were correlated with a significantly higher rate of alloantibody formation. From the results of our study, we conclude that measures to decrease the development of alloantibodies may incorporate matching for Rhesus and Kell systems and early induction of blood transfusions.

• The Korean Journal of Blood Transfusion
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.169-172
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• 2012

Lutheran a antigen ($Lu^a$) is detected in 6 to 8% of Caucasians and Africans. In Korean and other Asian populations, it is very rare or nearly absent. Therefore, although $Lu^a$ has a considerable immunizing capacity, sensitization to $Lu^a$ is a rare event. Here we report on a rare case of anti-$Lu^a$ in a 70 year-old female patient with Lu (a-/b+) phenotype and review the relevant literature. Due to the paucity of $Lu^a$ positive panel cells in antibody screening and identification tests, detection of this rare antibody to $Lu^a$ antigen is not feasible. Therefore, we should keep in mind the possibility of the misleading false negative result in detection of antibody to this low incidence antigen.