The Kleihauer technique: an accurate method of quantifying fetomaternal haemorrhage?
Blood was taken from 100 consecutive asymptomatic women at 17 to 18 weeks of pregnancy for Kleihauer testing. When a proportion of these slides were assessed at a different hospital there was agreement in only 46%. When the number of fetal cells were quantified there were differences of over 500%. These results show a large inter-observer and inter-hospital variation in interpreting Kleihauer slides. If these investigations are to be performed, it is essential that clinicians can rely on the results. There is a need for quality control measures and audit so that laboratories can rectify any deficiencies in their techniques.
Duckett
J R
JR
Department of Obstetrics, Birmingham Maternity Hospital, UK.
Constantine
G
G
D001773:Blood Cells; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology; D005331:Fetomaternal Transfusion / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006403:Hematologic Tests; D006405:Hematology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity