Proceed with care: the “uncommon” serologic weak D phenotypes

Abstract

Preview
RhD negative individuals are rare in East Asia1. Their prevalence among patients and blood donors in China, Korea and Japan is 1% or less2. The serologic weak D phenotype is even rarer3,4. Since there are so few susceptible patients, anti-D is encountered infrequently in East Asia5. As known from other regions, the anti-D immunisation rate is at least nearly 20%6,7 and can exceed 50%8,9, when vulnerable patients10 are exposed to RhD positive transfusion. Proper identification of weak D and DEL phenotypes can contribute to patient safety and determine if RhD negative red cell transfusion is required. [ ... ]