ACLS
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Drabik-Clary, K.
Right arrow Articles by Boctor, F. N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Drabik-Clary, K.
Right arrow Articles by Boctor, F. N.
Annals of Clinical & Laboratory Science 36:205-207 (2006)
© 2006 Association of Clinical Scientists

Case Report

Severe Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn in a Group B African-American Infant Delivered by a Group O Mother

Kathryn Drabik-Clary, Vishnu V. B. Reddy, William H. Benjamin and Fouad N. Boctor
Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama

Address correspondence to Fouad N. Boctor, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, West Pavilion P230, 619 19th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35249-7331, USA; tel 205 934 6421; fax 205 975 4468; e-mail fboctor{at}pth.uab.edu.

Maternal-fetal ABO incompatibility is a common hematological problem affecting the newborn. In general, hemolysis is minimal and the clinical course is relatively benign, rarely causing the escalating levels of hyperbilirubinemia and significant anemia commonly associated with Rh hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN). The incidence of HDN ranges from one in 150 births to 1:3000 births, depending on the degree of anemia and level of serum bilirubin. The etiology of ABO hemolytic disease of the newborn (ABO-HDN) is complex because anti-A and anti-B antibodies are composed mainly of IgM. Since only IgG antibodies cross the placenta, those pregnant women with high levels of IgG anti-A,B, anti-A, or anti-B with an ABO incompatible fetus will be the ones to give birth to an infant with ABO-HDN. We describe a case of a B/Rh positive term newborn born to an O/Rh negative African-American mother demonstrating aggressive hemolysis and a robust response of the bone marrow. This case was successfully managed with phototherapy and simple RBC transfusion without the need for exchange transfusion.

Keywords: hemolytic disease of the newborn, neonatal blood exchange, hemolysis, hyperbilirubinemia






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2006 by the Association of Clinical Scientists.