Anti-IgA-mediated transfusion reactions in Canada

During a 6-year period (1977 to 1982) blood samples from 152 Canadian patients were referred to the national reference laboratory of the Canadian Red Cross Society because the referring hospitals had not been able to determine the cause of the patients' severe nonhemolytic transfusion reactions. Twenty-one patients were found to be IgA deficient, and 12 of them had strong class-specific anti-IgA antibodies, which were presumed to have been responsible for the reactions. The spectrum of symptoms that accompanied these violent reactions was documented for 10 of the patients. As a probable minimum, the incidence of anti-IgA-mediated reactions averaged 1.3 per million units of blood or blood products transfused during this period.