Rh-Incompatible Platelet Transfusions - Risks and Consequences of Sensitizing Immunosuppressed Patients

Abstract

The transfusion records of 102 Rh-negative patients treated with platelet transfusions from Rh-positive donors showed a 7.8 per cent rate of sensitization to the Rh0 (D) antigen. All but one of the patients had diseases associated with impaired immunologic reactivity and received immunosuppressive drugs. These results contrast with a rate of 60 to 80 per cent sensitization reported for normal volunteers given a similar antigenic stimulus. Immunosuppressed, Rh-negative patients with severe thrombocytopenia can be given platelet transfusions from Rh-positive donors with little risk of isoimmunization.