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Lanny J. Rosenwasser, MD; Bobby Z. Joseph, MD

JAMA. 1992;268(20):2940-2945.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

TWO EVENTS revolutionized the field of immunohematology: the discovery of the ABO blood group system by Karl Landsteiner in 1900 and the development of the Coombs' test in 1945. These observations resulted in the improved safety and success of blood transfusions.

Approximately 2% of hospitalized patients develop alloantibodies that are formed as a result of blood transfusions from heterologous donors or during pregnancy; this can lead to transfusion reactions or hemolytic disease of the newborn. Although it was initially thought that alloantibodies are formed only against erythrocyte antigens, it became evident that alloantibodies are also generated against various neutrophil (eg, NA1, NB1) and platelet (eg, P1^A1, Bak^a) antigens. Like erythrocyte alloantibodies, neutrophil and platelet alloantibodies can cause immune destruction of blood cells during transfusion reactions or pregnancy. Furthermore, immune destruction of erythrocytes, neutrophils, and platelets can occur when autoantibodies are produced against these cells, during drug therapy, or . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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