Abstract
In cases of transfusion where it is difficult to obtain a donor of the same group as the patient, a person of Group I (Jansky) has been considered suitable on account of the fact that the corpuscles of this group are inagglutinable by the isohemagglutinins. The fact that the plasma of a Group I individual contain isoagglutinins capable of clumping the corpuscles of the recipient has been ignored, because, under ordinary circumstances, the quantity of the plasma transfused is too small to affect the larger proportion (five to ten times) of the recipient's corpuscles.
In carrying out the method of direct matching of bloods described by Coca, 1 we found that the plasma of one of us (M., Group I) produced complete agglutination of ten volumes of the corpuscles of P. L. (Group II). Quantitative tests in the test tube showed that moderate agglutination of P. L. corpuscles was produced by as little as 1/20 volume of the M. plasma.
This observation reveals a risk in using a member of the so-called “Universal Donor” group for the first time without making a rough quantitative examination of the agglutinating power of the individual's plasma. It is advisable, therefore, in carrying out the direct matching according to Coca, to include a mixture of equal parts of undiluted recipient's citrated blood with the donor's citrated blood, diluted 1 to 5.
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