ML 227 - Immunohematology II Laboratory

Credit Hours: 1.5

Continuation of ML 217. Discussions and laboratory procedures will include general transfusion practices, the resolution of ABO and Rh discrepancies, identification procedures of red cell antibodies, transfusion practices involving incompatibilities and the laboratory investigation of the positive DAT, HDN and hemolytic anemia.

Course Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

differentiate between autologous, homologous, and directed donation processes;
define and explain the apheresis process, including: plasmapheresis, leukapheresis, and plateletpheresis;
explain “blood salvage” and its importance in transfusion;
describe routine and emergency transfusion practices;
explain the biochemical changes that occur during blood and component storage;
discuss the four categories of ABO discrepancies and their causes;
identify, categorize and resolve basic types of ABO discrepancies;
discuss ABO and its relationship to disease;
discuss reasons for invalid Rh results;
identify and resolve basic problems involving invalid Rh testing;
discuss the process of finding compatible blood for recipients having irregular antibodies, including how and why incompatibilities are discovered;
interpret antibody identification panels involving single and multiple antibody specificities with some proficiency;
describe and explain how the more commonly used procedures for identifying antibodies are used, i.e. enzymes, neutralization, enhancement medium (LISS), etc.;
discuss the resolution of the incompatible crossmatch;
describe and perform procedures used in evaluating the positive direct antiglobulin test (DAT);
discuss the positive DAT and autoimmune hemolytic anemia;
describe and perform the testing procedures necessary for the investigation of hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN);
perform antigen typing on red cells; associate its importance to the resolution antibody identification panels and transfusion as well as phenotyping/genotyping;
describe the phenomenon of rouleaux and recognize its effects on compatibility tests, antibody identification and ABO determinations;
recognize hemolysis and mixed field agglutination;
list and recognize sources of error for all procedures; and
describe the quality control procedures used for blood banking procedures and explain their importance.

Prerequisites: ML 214, ML 215, ML 216, ML 217
Corequisites: ML 224
S (N)