Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Case Report
Genotyping of Blood Donors for Timely Procurement of Rare Antigen-Negative Blood: A Case Story of Acute HTR and Anti-Coa
Author(s): Katrine Kielsen, Bibi Fatima Syed Shah Scharff, Anne Todsen Hansen, Line Malmer Madsen, Niels Erikstrup Clausen, Klaus Rieneck and Morten Hanefeld Dziegiel*
Hemolytic Transfusion Reactions (HTR) caused by antibodies against the high-prevalence Coa antigen has rarely
been reported, and Coa-negative Red Blood Cells (RBC) units are rare.
A 74-year-old woman was admitted with gastro-intestinal bleeding and sepsis. She developed an alloantibody of
unknown specificity after her first transfusion. After a third, urgent transfusion with a Coa incompatible RBC unit,
she reacted with dyspnea, hypertension, cerebral impairment and ultimately cardiac arrest. Hemolysis was
demonstrated, an anti-Coa was detected in her serum, and post transfusion investigations identified the implicated
RBC unit as Co (a+b-). In the following weeks, the patient’s persistent need for RBC transfusions was met by
fresh Coa-negative blood enabled by our recently imp.. View more»