IMMUNOHEMOLYTIC TRANSFUSION REACTIONS .3. A STUDY OF 61 CASES

Blood transfusion is mainly bound to immunological and infectious risk s. The immunological risk originates from an incompatibility between t he blood of the donor and that of the recipient; this risk remains ins ufficiently assessed. A multicentre study has been carried out by the French Blood Transfusion Society and the National Institute for Blood Transfusion. Sixty-one accidents due to an erythrocyte incompatibility were found: 26 cases with ABO incompatibility, and 35 cases with allo antibodies of other blood group systems. For the former category of ac cidents, the most frequent cause was due to a failure in the realizati on of the bedside ABO check. For the latter, the main problem was the achievement and the interpretation of antibody screening. The long ter m follow-up shows no chronic after-effects of immunological. accidents . For each accident, errors have been identified and analysed. It was proven that they all originate from health care establishments.