A MONOLAYER COAGGLUTINATION MICROPLATE TECHNIQUE FOR TYPING RED-BLOOD-CELLS

Background and objectives: Serologic agglutination tests have the disa dvantage of lack of an objective endpoint that can be easily read and quantitated. We have developed a new method for ABO and Rh typing base d on producing a red blood cell (RBC) monolayer on microplates and the mixed hemagglutination reaction. Materials and methods: We have emplo yed a new red cell fixation buffer to prepare the RBC monolayer. As th e technique for grouping, we used a mixed agglutination reaction betwe en the RBC monolayer and the RBCs to be typed. Results: Compared with an automated hemagglutination system in 34,519 samples, the method is shown to be more sensitive, free of false positive reactions, and cost -effective. Conclusions: The microplate coagglutination method is accu rate and lower in cost than conventional methods.