Fetal Haemolysis

doi:10.1017/9781108863049.016

Chapter 15 - Fetal Haemolysis

from Section 3 - Fetal Medicine

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2021

Manjiri Khare and

Ganga Verma

Edited by

Tahir Mahmood ,

Charles Savona Ventura ,

Ioannis Messinis and

Sambit Mukhopadhyay

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Tahir Mahmood: Affiliation:
Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy
Charles Savona Ventura: Affiliation:
University of Malta, Malta
Ioannis Messinis: Affiliation:
University of Thessaly, Greece
Sambit Mukhopadhyay: Affiliation:
Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, UK

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Summary

Fetal haemolysis results from the breakdown of red blood cells secondary to immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies that pass from the mother through to the fetus resulting in anaemia and fetal hydrops which may result in intrauterine fetal death [1]. Fetal haemolysis is also known as haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) and erythroblastosis fetalis. Historically, fetal haemolysis was almost synonymous with rhesus D (RhD) alloimmunization and was common until the late 1960s. Since crossmatching red blood cell transfusions for RhD and introduction of routine anti-D immunoglobin (anti-D Ig) prophylaxis in the 1970s, the spectrum of haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn has changed dramatically [2].

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Type: Chapter
Information: The EBCOG Postgraduate Textbook of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Obstetrics & Maternal-Fetal Medicine
, pp. 122 - 129

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108863049.016 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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