Frequency of Detection of Unexpected Antibodies in Transfusion Candidates at a Secondary Hospital in Gyeongbuk Province / 대한수혈학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Antibody screening and identification tests are indispensable tools for protecting patients from acute hemolytic transfusion reaction. The column agglutination method has been widely used because of its simplicity and superiority to other methods for detecting warm antibodies. The purpose of this study was to analyze the frequency, distribution and clinical characteristics of unexpected antibodies found in transfusion candidates at a secondary hospital in Gyeongbuk Province, Korea. METHODS: The antibody screening tests were carried out with 9,275 sera samples using the column agglutination method from July 2009 to September 2011. The antibodies were screened and identified using the DiaMed-ID system (DiaMed, Murten, Switzerland). RESULTS: The positive rate for antibody screening tests was 0.5% (50/9,275). Unexpected antibodies were identified in 36 cases (0.4%). The most frequently detected antibody was anti-Lea in 15 cases (30%), followed by anti-Leb in 10 cases (20%) and anti-E in 8 cases (16%). Antibodies that remain unidentified were detected in 11 cases (22%). CONCLUSION: Compared with previous reports, this study demonstrated that the frequency and distribution of unexpected antibodies were no different than those found in general hospitals. This study may provide data for the frequency and characteristics of unexpected antibodies in a secondary hospital.