Blood type and Rhesus
Blood group determination (ABO + rhesus)
Blood group + rhesus factor (incl. test antibodies + blood group card)
Name and date of birth are additionally mentioned on the tubes.
The AB0-rhesus blood group typing determines whether someone has blood group A, B, AB or 0 (zero). In addition, the presence or absence of the rhesus factor is determined.
The type of blood group a person has is determined by specific proteins (antigens) present on red blood cells. Most important are the A and B antigens. Individuals can have antigen A (blood type A), antigen B (blood type B), antigens A and B (blood type and AB) or no antigens A and B (blood type 0) on their red blood cells.
Antibodies:
The body naturally makes antibodies against the antigen not present on its own red blood cells. This does not require contact with the foreign antigen. Someone with blood type A therefore naturally has antibodies against blood type B and vice versa. Someone with blood type 0 has antibodies to blood type A and blood type B, someone with blood type and AB and has no antibodies to A or B.
Antibodies to the rhesus factor do not occur naturally. Someone without rhesus factor (rhesus factor-negative) must therefore first come into contact with rhesus-positive blood before rhesus antibodies are produced. That contact can be, for example, a blood transfusion or a pregnancy of a rhesus-positive child.
Irregular antibodies are normally not present in the blood. They are antibodies against other blood groups than A and B. They can occur after a blood transfusion or after pregnancy. Sometimes pregnant women have irregular antibodies without an obvious cause.
If irregular antibodies are present, they are also demonstrated by this examination.
There are several types of irregular antibodies. You can have antibodies to blood types A and B, and to the rhesus factor (c and D). In addition, there are many other blood groups against which antibodies can exist. These are called irregular antibodies. These are represented in different ways: sometimes with letters, such as e, E, s, S; § sometimes with names of the discoverers such as: Duffy (Fy), Hofman, Hovekamp, Kell (K) or Kidd (Jk). It is possible to have irregular antibodies to several of these blood groups, but usually only one type is present.
There is no point in determining this examination for medical necessity, as it must be done again anyway for safety reasons.
