Autologous blood transfusions and pregnancy.

Abstract

The application of autologous and frozen red blood cell (RBC) programs is described for 3 pregnant women with antibodies to high-incidence blood group antigens (anti-Lutheranb, anti-Cellano, anti-Vel). The cases illustrate how readily available supplies or rare blood types can be maintained throughout pregnancy using autologous and frozen RBC techniques, including selective predeposit, "family-sharing," and intensive phlebotomy with fluid replacement. The RBC phenotypes described in this paper are exceedingly rare since they occur in only 0.1-0.001% of random donors. However, the principles of autologous blood transfusions are universal and they can be applied to the general problems of blood group incompatibility in pregnancy.