Three episodes of delayed hemolytic transfusion reactions due to multiple red cell antibodies, anti-Di, anti-Jk and anti-E.
Mots clés
Abstrait
There is no report in which three episodes of delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction (DHTR) occurred from multiple antibodies to red cells (RBCs) in the course of treatment of a patient. This paper describes episodes of anemia and hyperbilirubinemia in concert with the development of three alloantibodies in a multiple transfused patient. The patient was a 71-year-old male suffering from valvular heart disease and hemophilia B with a history of transfusions. Although he received compatible RBCs from 14 donors as judged by a crossmatch test using the albumin-antiglobulin method, three episodes of DHTR occurred after surgery. The first hemolytic episode on day 7 after surgery was due to anti-Di(a) because of clinical and laboratory evidence which included jaundice, sudden increases in total bilirubin (T-Bil) and lactate dehydrogenase (LD) levels, and a decrease (2.2 g/dl) in hemoglobin (Hb) level. The second hemolytic episode on day 16 resulted from newly producted anti-Jk(b). The patient experienced fever, fatigue, nausea and anorexia, and laboratory data showed a second increase in T-Bil, a second decrease (3 g/dl) in Hb, and moderate elevations of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (CRE) levels. The third hemolytic episode on day 39 was due to anti-E. The patient complained of fever and fatigue and had a third unexplained drop (1.5 g/dl) in Hb despite no bleeding. This is the first reported case in which three episodes of DHTR occurred from different red cell antibodies.