Transfusion medicine in a developing country – Alloantibodies to red blood cells in multi-transfused patients in Saudi Arabia

BackgroundMultiple transfusions are frequently complicated by alloimmunization. This retrospective study aims to determine whether alloimmunization could be accounted for by racial differences between donors and recipients.Materials and methodsThe development of alloantibodies were determined in 68 multi-transfused patients (thalassaemia, n = 38) and (sickle cell anemia, n = 30).ResultsThe overall frequency of alloantibody formation in our patients is 22.06%. Thirteen patients received blood from the same ethnic group (Arab) and none developed antibodies, while of 47 patients who received multi-ethnic blood, 10 developed alloantibodies.ConclusionsAlloantibodies formation can be reduced by limiting the transfusion of RBC, collected from donors of the same ethnic origin.