WAIHA Flashcards
What do most autoantibodies react with?
High incidence RBC antigens (Rh blood group)
What do autoantibodies do?
Agglutinate, sensitize, or lyse RBCs of random donors and self
What are some discrepancies caused by?
Autoantibodies coating RBCs
If DAT is positive, what does that mean?
There is a positive autocontrol, which means there’s an autoantibody
Individuals who make antibodies against antigens on their own red blood cells (autoantibodies) with resultant hemolysis suffer from ____
autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA)
Is it AIHA if person has not been recently tranfused?
No
When your bone marrow is keeping up with the amount of RBCs being destroyed?
Compensated anemia
What is the retic count for compensated anemia?
High
What is the H/H for compensated anemia?
Mildly low
blood test that measures how fast red blood cells called reticulocytes are made by the bone marrow and released into the blood
Retic count
the proportion, by volume, of the blood that consists of red blood cells expressed in %
hematocrit
the oxygen-carrying protein pigment in the blood, specifically in the red blood cells expressed as g/dL
hemoglobin
When your bone marrow is not keeping up with the amount of cells being destroyed
Uncompensated anemia
What is seen in peripheral smear of someone with uncompensated anemia?
Macrocytosis and spherocytosis
What is the retic count for uncompensated anemia?
more than 3%
What is the level of unconjugated bilirubin and LDH in uncompensated anemia?
High
high LDH = damaged tissues
Bilirubin that is bound to a certain protein (albumin) in the blood
Unconjugated bilirubin
What is the haptoglobin levels in uncompensated anemia?
Low
How do you confirm if someone has AIHA?
DAT (and eluate if positive)
Can AIHA antibodies be warm or cold reactive?
Most are warm, some are cold
Can AIHA antibodies be drug induced?
Yes
What do cold reactive autoantibodies react best with?
Enzyme-treated cells (ficin at IS)
What class of Ig are cold reactive autoantibodies?
IgM
Can cold IgM autoagglutinins activate complement in vitro?
Yes, by binding to RBC surface (causing a positive DAT)
At what phase can reactivity be seen in cold reactive autoantibodies?
At Coombs (AHG) using polyspecific AHG
What AHG is used for D/weak D typing?
Monospecific IgG AHG
What can be done to remove cold autoantibodies coating RBCs?
Use monoclonal IgG reagents, wash cells at 37C, ADSORPTION
Do cold reactive autoantibodies interfere with detection and ID of RBC ALLOantibodies?
YES
Do benign cold autoantibodies interfere with using polyspecific AHG?
Yes
What happens when RBCs are heavily coated with cold autoantibodies?
False positive reactions with ABO reagents; spontaneous agglutinations (so need to wash at 37C)
Can you use pre-warmed testing for cold autoantibodies?
Not for recently transfused patients (within 3 months) or inaccurate transfusion history
What specificity do most cold autoantibodies have?
Cold anti-I specificity (NOT little i)
What specificity do some cold autoantibodies have?
Cold anti-H in group O and A2 people who have the most H antigen so they react best
Lacks H antigens; therefore anti-H is a potent alloantibody which reacts at cold temp with all cells except rare Oh cell and capable of causing rapid intravascular destruction
Bombay
Occurs in old people (around 50); antibody specificity is always anti-I, usually seasonal and not severe
Idiopathic Cold AIHA (Cold Hemagglutinin Disease)
What is the clinical criteria for diagnosis of Idiopathic Cold AIHA (Cold Hemagglutinin Disease)?
Acquired hemolytic anemia with a history of acrocyanosis, jaundice, Raynaurd’s and hemoglobinuria on exposure to cold
What serological tests are performed for Idiopathic Cold AIHA (Cold Hemagglutinin Disease)?
DAT; cold agglutination titer; reactivity in patient’s serum
What causes Paroxysmal Cold Hemoglobinuria (PCH)?
a biphasic IgG autoantibody that fixes complement at low temperature, causing intravascular hemolysis, but ultimately dissociates at a higher temperature
Who is PCH common seen in?
Children with viral illnesses, but incidence of 1-2%
How do you solve problems associated with cold agglutinins?
Get out of cold climate