DETERMINATION OF ANTI-RH ANTIBODY IN INFANTS WITH ERYTHROBLASTOSIS FETALIS

Abstract

THE RELATION of Rh incompatibility to erythroblastosis fetalis¹ has been generally accepted. The disease is caused by the combination of the maternal anti-Rh antibody with the Rh antigen contained in the fetal tissue. The immunologic diagnosis of erythroblastosis fetalis, therefore, should rest on the demonstration of such an antigen-antibody combination in the fetus. Haberman and Hill² and Carter and Loughrey³ utilized the reversible nature of the antigen-antibody reaction to liberate the agglutinin, or "complete" antibody,⁴ from the baby's washed red blood cells in some, but not all cases. It must be noted, however, that there are two types of maternal antibody, the complete and the incomplete. The sensitized mother may transfer to her fetus the type or types of antibody which her serum contains. With the use of a similar technic, our results have agreed with those of the aforementioned workers, and we have extended our