alloimmunization in thalassemia patients: new insight for healthcare

Background: development of alloantibodies against the foreign red blood cell (rbc) (alloimmunization) is a well‑known complication in thalassemia patients when performing multiple transfusions. the study was conducted to know the prevalence of alloimmunization in thalassemia patients, in the caspian sea coastline. methods: this study is a descriptive, retrospective analysis of transfusion records of 190 patients with β‑thalassemia major who received regular transfusions. to detect the type of alloantibodies, two cells panel tests (kits; iranian blood transfusion organization [ibto], 3 rbc cells and ibto, 11 rbc cells) were used. results: forty‑seven patients were positive for alloantibodies (24.7%). of them, 18.4% (35 cases) had only one alloantibody, and 6.3% (12 cases) had at least two or more of alloantibodies. the vast majority of alloantibodies were anti‑kell followed by anti‑e, and anti‑d, respectively. conclusions: blood matching for rh and k antigens in patients with transfusion‑dependent thalassemia could reduce the rate of rbc alloinununization.