Study of Alloimmunization in Transfusion-dependent Thalassemia Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital

BACKGROUND: Alloantibodies against donor red blood cells (RBCs) are developed by patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT), which causes the donor RBCs to hemolyze. This decreases the transfusion’s efficacy and increases the risk of adverse effects like iron overload. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and five TDT patients with an average age of 11 ± 6 years enrolled in this study underwent the Direct Coombs Test (DCT) to determine the frequency of alloimmunization. RESULTS: Most cases were of thalassemia major (TM) (76.09%), followed by thalassemia intermedia (TI) and (21.95%). Most of the cases were diagnosed and started on regular blood transfusion therapy between the ages of 1 and 10 years. Majority of the cases were born of parental consanguinity. Only 13.17% of the patients underwent splenectomy, of which TM cases were the majority. Even though O-positive was the most frequent blood type, most of the operated and alloimmunized cases belonged to the B-positive blood type. Only 10.24% of the patients had alloimmunization, with 51.85% of them developing it after splenectomy. Among all study participants, no correlation was found between the blood group and the type of thalassemia, alloimmunization, or splenectomy. Among TDT cases, there was a significant correlation ( P < 0.0001) between alloimmunization and splenectomy. Alloimmunization and splenectomy correlated significantly with the total number of transfusions, the volume of blood transfused, and the transfusion initiation age. CONCLUSION: Our findings emphasize the significance of antigen typing in TDT patients before the first transfusion.