[Detection of Irregular Antibodies after Blood Transfusion for Children with Thalassemia in Hainan]

To investigate the irregular antibody positive rate and antibody specificity in children with thalassemia received long-term blood transfusion in Hainan area and analyze the causes of antibody screening positive.

Micro-column gel method was used to screen the irregular antibody in 49 children who received transfusion treatment in our hospital, and the antibody specificity of the positive samples was evaluated.

Fourteen of 49 cases showed positive for screening. Among them, 11 cases showed Rh blood group antibody after detecting antibody specificity, 1 case showed the coexistence of irregular antibody and autoantibody. One case for anti-JK^a and 1 case for anti-JK^b. The positive rate of antibody screening was 16.1% (5/31) in males and 50.0% (9/18) in females. The positive rate of antibody screening was higher in females than that in males. The positive rate of antibody screening in Han and Li nationality was 18.4% (7/38) and 63.6% (7/11), respectively. The positive rate of antibody screening in Li nationality was higher than that in Han nationality. After starting blood transfusion treatment, there were 3 cases (15.8%) of antibody screening positive at birth to 6 months old, Three cases (20.0%) of antibody screening positive at 6 months to 1 year old and 8 cases (53.3%) of antibody screening positive at over 1 year old. Three cases with α-thalassemia were negative after screening. Four cases (14.8%) with β-thalassemia were positive after screening. Nine cases (60.0%) with αβ thalassemia were positive after screening, 1 case (25.0%) with undefined type of thalassemia was positive after screening. The positive rate of antibody screening after blood transfusion was highest in children with αβ mixed type of thalassemia. Above-mentimed differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). But there was no significant difference between the positive rate of screening by ABO blood group (P>0.05).

Most of the antibodies produced after long-term blood transfusion in the children with thalassemia belong to Rh blood group antibodies; the children with mixed thalassemia are more likely to produce antibodies; the antibody screening positive rate of Li nationality is higher than that of Han nationality, which may be caused by the genetic difference of blood type between Li nationality and Han nationality.