2017 Volume 63 Issue 5 Pages 683-690
Accurate ABO blood group typing is critical for blood transfusion medicine. The ABO group is determined when forward group typing detects blood antigens and reverse group typing detects the presence or absence of anti-A or anti-B antibodies in serum. However, ABO type discrepancies are occasionally observed under a variety of conditions, such as the subtype of ABO group, various malignancies, including hematologic diseases, and autoimmune disorders. Here, we performed a single institute retrospective analysis of patients who presented with ABO discrepancies from January 1, 2003, to September 30, 2015. Patients who received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with ABO-incompatible grafts were excluded from this study. Out of 2,455 patients, 61 had ABO discrepancies, most of whom also had a hematologic disease. Of the 61 ABO discrepancies, 20 were detected in forward group typing, 35 in reverse group typing, 4 in both, and 2 were due to unidentified factors. Eighteen (90%) patients with discrepancies in forward group typing had myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia and 18 (51%) with discrepancies in reverse group typing had lymphoid malignancies. ABO type discrepancies are observed in hematological diseases, indicating the need for repeated tests.
