Severe anti-C hemolytic disease of the newborn.
OBJECTIVE
Because of referral of a C-alloimmunized pregnant woman with a previous hydropic death whose fetus survived after four intraperitoneal transfusions, prevalence and severity of anti-C hemolytic disease of the newborn were investigated.


METHODS
The numbers of C- or Ce-alloimmunized pregnancies in Manitoban women and their outcome for the 28-year period ending Oct. 31, 1990, were reviewed. The literature relating to C or Ce alloimmunization from 1944 to 1990 was surveyed.


RESULTS
In Manitoba for the period reviewed there were 120 pregnancies in 80 C- or Ce-alloimmunized women. Twenty-two ended in abortion and two in fetal death unrelated to anti-C or anti-Ce. Of the remaining 96, 33 fetuses of 32 pregnancies were affected but only eight (6.7%) required treatment after birth. None were severely affected. In the literature there are only three other reported deaths from C or Ce hemolytic disease; two of the three may have been the same patient. The prevalence of C or Ce alloimmunization reported in various series, including our own, ranged from 8.7 to 185 per 100,000 pregnancies.


CONCLUSIONS
Because on rare occasions, C or Ce alloimmunization can cause severe hemolytic disease, criteria for investigative measures such as amniocentesis or cordocentesis do not differ from the criteria for instituting these measures in Rho (D)-alloimmunized pregnancies.
Bowman
J M
JM
Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Pollock
J M
JM
Manning
F A
FA
Harman
C R
CR
D004899:Erythroblastosis, Fetal / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007518:Isoantibodies / Q000032:analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System / Q000276:immunology*
D007518:Isoantibodies; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System