Red cell agglutination

This article is about the hematologic condition. For the use of red cell agglutination as a testing method, see hemagglutination.
Red cell agglutination in a patient with cold agglutinin disease.

In hematology, red cell agglutination or autoagglutination is a phenomenon in which red blood cells clump together, forming aggregates. It is caused by the surface of the red cells being coated with antibodies.[1]: 98  This often occurs in cold agglutinin disease, a type of autoimmune hemolytic anemia in which people produce antibodies (termed cold agglutinins) that bind to their red blood cells at cold temperatures and destroy them. People may develop cold agglutinins from lymphoproliferative disorders, from infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae or Epstein–Barr virus, or idiopathically (without any apparent cause). Red cell agglutination can also occur in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria[2]: 13 [3] and warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia.[4]: 88  In cases of red cell agglutination, the direct antiglobulin test can be used to demonstrate the presence of antibodies bound to the red cells.[3]

  1. ^ Bain, BJ (20 January 2015). Blood Cells: A Practical Guide (5 ed.). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-81733-9.
  2. ^ Hematology and Clinical Microscopy Committee (2019). "Blood cell identification" (PDF). Hematology and Clinical Microscopy Glossary. College of American Pathologists. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-06-28. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  3. ^ a b Quist, Erin; Koepsell, Scott (2015). "Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia and Red Blood Cell Autoantibodies". Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. 139 (11): 1455–8. doi:10.5858/arpa.2014-0337-RS. PMID 26516943.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kottke2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).