Detection of irregular antibodies by indirect antiglobulin test: comparison with polyspecific reagent and anti-IgG.

The detection of irregular antibodies is usually performed with serum by th e indirect antiglobulin test (IAT) with a polyspecific antiglobulin reagent . In a first study in 1996, we compared the results obtained with 3.264 blo od samples of patients drawn with or without anticoagulant: no significant difference was observed among the 240 allo-antibodies detected and identifi ed. In this paper we report the comparison of the results obtained by IAT o n column of filtration with two kinds of reagents: polyspecific and anti-Ig G antibodies. Respectively 2.927 (76 contained an antibody), and 643 (161 c ontained an antibody) sera of patients were tested with methods ID-Diamed(T M) and Ortho-Biovue(TM). Titrations of 153 other antibodies were also perfo rmed with the two reagents. Results showed no significant difference using either polyspecific reagent or the anti-IgG antibodies. This study proves t hat it is possible to perform screening of irregular antibodies on uncoagul ated blood samples. This possibility allows automation as blood typing and screening of irregular antibodies can be carried out with the same sample. (C) 1999 Elsevier, Paris.