ERYTHROBLASTOSIS FOETALIS (ACUTE HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA OF THE NEWBORN)

Abstract

The purpose of this communication is to present evidence that erythroblastosis foetalis is primarily an acute hemolytic anemia of the newborn, due probably to an agglutinative-hemolytic process. This concept is not new. The theory that fetal erythrocytes may enter the maternal circulation, immunize the mother and produce antibodies which subsequently pass through the placenta and act on the blood and tissues of the fetus was suggested as a cause of jaundice of the newborn by Ottenberg¹ in 1923. Hampson² (1929) expressed the belief that icterus gravis is the result of failure by the newborn child to produce a hypothetic antihemolytic hormone previously provided by its mother. Parsons, Hawksley and Gittins³ and Hawksley and Lightwood⁴ also went on record as regarding the intense erythroblastic reaction of the blood as secondary to a hemolytic process. Later Ross and Waugh⁵ stated that there are two types of icterus