title: Variants of RhD--current testing and clinical consequences.
abstract: Anti-D (-RH1) of the Rh blood group system is clinically important as it causes haemolytic transfusion reactions and haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. Although most people are either D+ or D-, there is a plethora of D variants, often categorized as either weak D or partial D. These two types are inadequately defined and the dichotomy is potentially misleading. DVI is the D variant most commonly associated with anti-D production and UK guidelines recommend that patients are tested with anti-D reagents that do not react with DVI. Weak D types 1, 2, and 3 are seldom, if ever, associated with alloanti-D production, so a policy recommendation would be to treat patients with those D variants as D+, to preserve D- stocks, whereas patients with all other D variants would be treated as D-. All donors with D variant red cells, including DVI, should be treated as D+.
authors: International Blood Group Reference Laboratory, NHS Blood and Transplant, Bristol, UK. geoff.daniels@nhsbt.nhs.uk
authors: Geoff
authors: G
authors: Daniels
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011247:Pregnancy; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System; C026410:Rho(D) antigen