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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Transfusions: Type and x-Match or No?
| Shadow's continuing to do well after her last transfusion but, in the event she needs another one, I wanted to ask people's opinions. Should a donor dog's blood be typed and cross matched with Shadow or not if it is a "universal" donor dog. Shadow's first transfusion was from a universal donor greyhound. Her second was from a Great Dane whose blood was typed and cross matched to hers. Donor Maximus can't come to Shadow's rescue for another two and a half weeks and, if she needs another transfusion, I'm worried that it will happen before Max can be a donor. I've read conflicting comments, and wonder if anyone has experience with (or an opinion about) using universal donor dog blood after the first "free" transfusion? Shadow does not respond to oxyglobin, so that is not an option. Thanks for any guidance you can give! Shadow and Sandy |
| Sandy UT |
| Absolutely cross match. See if the vet has a donor dog and plan to have blood drawn from both of them and sent out for cross match before you need the transfusion. A mismatch at this point could seriously impact Shadow. Patrice |
| Patrice New York State |
| Sorry I was so brief before. Sometimes I don't have a lot of time to write. My vet did a lot of research on this for us. Each transfusion from a donor alters your dog's blood. Say you transfuse your first "free" time from dog A. Then you later successfully transfuse from dog B. It is possible if you then transfuse from dog A again, (the blood that was first used and was compatible), it may now be incompatible because of the addition of dog B's blood. You must cross match with dog A again! Even the use of superwashed, universal donor blood can cause some antigen production. Thus, after this, the next blood source must be cross matched. You cannot dare take any chances with this, the results can be disastrous. Knowing who your donor dog will be and cross matching during a period of stability will allow you to react quickly and confidently in an emergency. There are as many as 11 different types of canine blood, this complicates things a great deal. We cross matched with our vet's donor dog and found that he was truly universal to Chance. This required that the blood samples be sent out to a specialty lab. Transfusions were scheduled during quiet afternoons when the staff could spend a lot of time attending to him and there was very little stress involved. Jake the donor dog is a fat and happy black lab. I watched him through the window wagging his tail as he donated. What a charming fellow. Patrice |
| Patrice New York State |
| Hi Sandy, From what my Jacob's specialist told me, with the first transfusion it does not have to be crossed matched. Any transfusion after that has to be or it could have grave results. Hope this helps. Teresa and Jacob |
| Teresa VA |
| Patrice and Teresa: Thaks for your comments. We will definitely get typed and cross matched, again. Patrice, do you know if Shadow gets a transfusion from dog B (the Great Dane who was typed and cross matched to her), do we have to type and cross match again - or, since she had great results from Maximus' blood (when she already had the "Dog A"/greyhound blood in her)if that first type and cross match should continue to make him a good donor? Thank you! Sandy |
| Sandy Utah |
| I admit I am confused about the typing and cross-matching. Patrice, if the donor dog and patient have been typed and found to be the same already is this the same as a crossmatch or is the "cross-match" a different test? Thanks, trying to be prepared for hopefully something that won't happen again. Mary |
| Mary Tx |
| Sandy, If your last cross matched transfusion was from dog B and there have been no other transfusions in between, then you are set with dog B. If this isn't an emergency, I would try to wait for dog B to become available again. Adding in a dog c can muck up things. Mary, Typing is not the same thing as cross matching. Typing just tells you which one of 11 types it is. Cross matching actually puts the samples together to see if they have any issues that will cause the blood to "agglutinate." The information below is from Wikipedia and is obviously related to human blood transfusions but you can still get a general idea of what is happening. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-matching "In transfusion medicine, cross-matching refers to the testing that is performed to determine the compatibility of a donated unit of blood for its intended recipient. It should not be confused with tests to determine a blood type or an antibody screen (indirect Coombs test) which are two entirely different tests that should always be completed prior to cross-match testing. Cross-match testing is done by a qualified laboratory technologist in a blood bank. Cross-matching can be done electronically with a computer database or serologically." "In a serological cross-match red blood cells from the donor unit are tested against the plasma/serum of the patient who is in need of the blood transfusion. If the patient’s serum contains antibodies against the antigens present on the donor red blood cells agglutination will occur. Agglutination is considered a positive reaction indicating that the donor unit is incompatible for that specific patient. If no agglutination occurs the unit is deemed compatible and is safe to transfuse." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type "A blood type (also called a blood group) is a classification of blood based on the presence or absence of inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs). These antigens may be proteins, carbohydrates, glycoproteins or glycolipids, depending on the blood group system, and some of these antigens are also present on the surface of other types of cells of various tissues. Several of these red blood cell surface antigens, that stem from one allele (or very closely linked genes), collectively form a blood group system." "In the routine preparation and selection of donor blood for blood transfusion, it is not necessary to determine the status of any other blood group antigens or antibodies, because antibody screening and cross-matching (or computer aided simulated cross-matching) prior to transfusion detects if there are any other blood group incompatibilities between potential donor blood and intended recipients." "If an individual is exposed to a blood group antigen that is not recognized as self, the immune system will produce antibodies that can specifically bind to that particular blood group antigen and an immunological memory against that antigen is formed. The individual will have become sensitized to that blood group antigen. These antibodies can bind to antigens on the surface of transfused red blood cells (or other tissue cells) often leading to destruction of the cells by recruitment of other components of the immune system. When IgM antibodies bind to the transfused cells, the transfused cells can clump. It is vital that compatible blood is selected for transfusions and that compatible tissue is selected for organ transplantation. Transfusion reactions involving minor antigens or weak antibodies may lead to minor problems. However, more serious incompatibilities can lead to a more vigorous immune response with massive RBC destruction, low blood pressure, and even death." |
| Patrice New York State |
This thread was discussed between 11/11/2007 and 12/11/2007
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