Plasma fibrinogen concentration in ABO-hemolytic disease of the newborn

Plasma fibrinogen and total serum proteins were measured in infants affected by ABO-hemolytic disease and in normal infants' cord blood and blood taken 48 h after birth. The average plasma fibrinogen concentrations in the blood of infants with ABO-hemolytic disease was 447.36 mg/dl as compared with 267.09 mg/dl (p less than 0.005) in cord blood and 313.82 mg/dl (p less than 0.005) in blood samples taken 48 h after birth. A simple 'autoagglutination' test is found to be helpful when establishing the diagnosis of ABO-hemolytic disease.