Survey of the incidence of ABO haemolytic disease of the newborn in one
institution in northern China
Abstract
Background: Haemolytic disease of the newborn is often secondary to ABO
incompatibility, the routine practice of early discharge of newborns
leads to a higher occurrence rate for hyperbilirubinemia. We aim to
compare the probability of ABO incompatibility and the prevalence of ABO
haemolytic disease of the newborn (ABO HDN) and investigate the clinical
characteristics of ABO HDN to identify risk factor for ABO HDN.
Procedure: The blood type of 85 590 blood donors and the inpatient
medical records of 471 ABO HDN were analysed retrospectively. Results:
The possibility of a blood group O woman giving birth to a non-group-O
infant should be 13.28%; however, only 6.03% of newborns had ABO HDN.
49.46% of total ABO HDN newborns developed disease due to anti-A
antibody and 50.54%, due to anti-B. No significant difference was found
in group A and B newborns in haemoglobin and peak total serum bilirubin
(TSB) levels, but lower haemoglobin values were observed in ABO HDN
infants with a positive direct anti-globulin test (DAT). Furthermore,
the correlation coefficient between the postnatal age of admission and
peak TSB levels was 0.54. When severe hyperbilirubinemia developed, the
peak TSB levels increased gradually with the increase in postnatal age
of admission. Conclusion: For ABO-incompatible mother-infant pairs,
timely monitoring is advised, since early hospitalization and
appropriate interventions, if necessary, can reduce the risk of severe
hyperbilirubinemia, especially for DAT-positive newborns.