ABO antibody test

Abo hemolytic disease is a congenital disease, mainly referring to a disease caused by the incompatibility of blood types between the fetus and the mother. With the development of modern medical technology, it is possible to detect whether there is a problem of ABO hemolytic disease during pregnancy. Because once ABO hemolysis occurs, it will cause serious harm to the fetus and jaundice is likely to occur after birth. What are the specific steps for the ABO hemolytic antibody test that pregnant women need to do?

ABO hemolysis is a neonatal hemolytic disease caused by ABO blood type incompatibility between mother and child, called "neonatal ABO hemolytic disease", which is a type of isoimmune hemolysis. Most of the cases of neonatal hemolytic disease in my country are ABO hemolytic disease. During pregnancy or delivery, varying numbers of fetal red blood cells may enter the mother's body. If the blood types are incompatible and the mother's body lacks the antigens possessed by the fetal red blood cells, she will produce corresponding antibodies. This immune antibody can enter the fetus through the placenta and cause hemolysis.

The main symptoms and signs of this disease include edema, jaundice, anemia and hepatosplenomegaly. The severity of symptoms depends on the amount of antibodies, the maturity of the newborn, and the compensatory hematopoietic ability.

1. Jaundice is the main symptom of ABO hemolytic disease, and most cases occur 2 to 3 days after birth. About 1/4 of babies develop jaundice within the first day after birth, and similarly, about 1/4 develop severe jaundice. Jaundice reaches its peak in 4-5 days, and is mostly moderate in severity, with a few being severe. Patients with severe jaundice may have symptoms of kernicterus such as refusal to eat, poor response, screaming, opisthotonos, and convulsions.

2. Anemia: Patients with ABO hemolytic disease all have varying degrees of anemia, but the degree is generally mild. Severe anemia (hemoglobin below 60g/L) accounts for only about 5%.

In some mild cases of ABO hemolytic disease, the early symptoms may not be severe, but late anemia occurs 2 to 6 weeks after birth, or the anemia becomes particularly severe during the "physiological anemia" period 8 to 12 weeks after birth. This is because the blood type antibodies persist, shortening the life of red blood cells and causing chronic hemolysis. It is reported that the life of red blood cells in such children is only about 35 days, and the daily hemoglobin decrease is about 4 times that of normal children of the same period. The destruction of red blood cells increases, and the bone marrow hematopoietic function is physiologically low at this time, and cannot be effectively compensated, which eventually leads to late neonatal anemia.

3. Rapid breathing and increased heartbeat.

4. Hepatosplenomegaly. The bone marrow and extramedullary hematopoietic tissue show compensatory hyperplasia, thus causing varying degrees of hepatosplenomegaly. Microscopic examination can reveal scattered extramedullary hematopoietic foci in the liver, spleen, lung, pancreas, kidney and other tissues.