Transfusion of donor-type red cells as a single preparative treatment for bone marrow transplants with major ABO...

Major ABO incompatibility of a bone marrow donor and recipient entails the risk of severe hemolytic transfusion reactions.

Nineteen patients who received transplants of bone marrow from donors whose ABO type was a major mismatch with the recipients were treated with plasma exchanges transfusion (n = 7) or donor-type red cell transfusion (n = 12) to remove isoagglutinins from the recipient. Efficacy, side effects, engraftment, and transfusion requirements were analyzed for the two treatment groups.

Both treatment methods were well tolerated, were of comparable efficacy in removing ABO antibodies, and did not affect the engraftment of platelets, red cells, or white cells. Except for observations in one patient, whose renal function was already impaired before red cell treatment and who developed reversible renal failure after transplant, no significant differences in serum creatinine levels were observed in the two groups after treatment. Only serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase measured, as a sign of hemolysis, on Day 0 (488 +/- 110 vs. 191 +/- 30 U/L in the red cell and plasma exchange groups, respectively, p < 0.05) were higher in the red cell group than in the plasma exchange group.

Transfusion of donor-type red cells is an effective means of preventing hemolytic reactions in patients who receive marrow transplants from donors whose ABO type is a major mismatch. It is technically simple and well tolerated, even in patients with high-titer isoagglutinins, but it should be avoided in patients with abnormal renal function.