title: Statistical approach to antigen screening.
abstract: Pretransfusion testing includes screening the serum of patients for clinically significant antibodies. When discovered, attempts are made to identify the antibody in the hopes of providing the patient with compatible blood that lacks the corresponding antigen. The statistical relationships among the probability of finding the desired number of units, the number of units screened, and the antigen frequency will be discussed. Graphic presentations highlight the relationships and provide a convenient method of assessing the likelihood of finding the desired number of units. A program to perform the necessary calculations on a microcomputer is discussed and is available upon request from the author.
mesh_terms: D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007519:Isoantigens / Q000032:analysis*; D008838:Microcomputers; D011336:Probability
chemical_list: D007519:Isoantigens