Hemolytic disease of the newborn

Hemolytic disease of the newborn
Other names	HDN
Specialty	Pediatrics, immunohaematology
Complications	heart failure, splenomegaly

Hemolytic disease of the newborn, also known as hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn, HDN, HDFN, or erythroblastosis fetalis,^[1][2] is an alloimmune condition that develops in a fetus at or around birth, when the IgG molecules (one of the five main types of antibodies) produced by the mother pass through the placenta. Among these antibodies are some which attack antigens on the red blood cells in the fetal circulation, breaking down and destroying the cells. The fetus can develop reticulocytosis and anemia. The intensity of this fetal disease ranges from mild to very severe, and fetal death from heart failure (hydrops fetalis) can occur. When the disease is moderate or severe, many erythroblasts (immature red blood cells) are present in the fetal blood, earning these forms of the disease the name erythroblastosis fetalis (British English: erythroblastosis foetalis).

HDFN represents a breach of immune privilege for the fetus or some other form of impairment of the immune tolerance in pregnancy. Various types of HDFN are classified by which alloantigen provokes the response. The types include ABO, anti-RhD, anti-RhE, anti-Rhc, anti-Rhe, anti-RhC, multiantigen combinations, and anti-Kell. Although global prevalence studies of the differential contribution of those types are lacking, regional population studies have shown the anti-RhD type to be the most common cause of HDFN, followed by anti-RhE, anti-RhC, and anti-Rhc.^[3]