title: Maternal anti-D concentrations and outcome in rhesus haemolytic disease of the newborn.
abstract: The relation between maternal anti-D concentrations, measured against the British working standard, and outcome of rhesus-sensitised pregnancies was studied. There is a clear relation between increasing anti-D concentrations and the chance of a severely affected baby. Of those pregnancies (78) where serial anti-D concentrations remained below 4 IU/ml, no baby had a cord haemoglobin below 10 g/dl and three had exchange transfusions. In contrast, of those mothers (106) with anti-D concentrations above 4 IU/ml, 23 had babies with a cord haemoglobin below 10 g/dl and 79 babies had exchange transfusions. It is suggested that those pregnancies where anti-D concentrations remain below 4 IU/ml represent a relatively safe group in which amniocentesis may be avoided.
mesh_terms: D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D004899:Erythroblastosis, Fetal / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D005078:Exchange Transfusion, Whole Blood; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000032:analysis; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007518:Isoantibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011379:Prognosis; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System; D018029:Rho(D) Immune Globulin
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D007518:Isoantibodies; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System; D018029:Rho(D) Immune Globulin; D001663:Bilirubin