KELL BLOOD GROUP ANTIGENS IN THE BLOOD DONORS ATTENDING BLOOD BANKS OF TERTIARY CARE HOSPITALS OF LAHORE, PAKISTAN.

摘要

Among the complications of blood transfusion, Hemolytic transfusion reactions(HTRs) and Hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) are particularly important. Literaturereports frequency of HTRs and related mortality up to 1/76,000 and 1/1.8 million unitstransfused respectively. These hemolytic reactions are caused by incompatibility betweenthe donor and recipient blood and in cases of HDN, due to feto-maternal incompatibilitydue to maternal antibodies attacking the fetal red cells. Anti-K antibody is the most commonantibody encountered in blood banks after the ABO and Rh antibodies. So routine screeningand matching of these blood antigens along with ABO and Rh can further reduce the risk ofHTRs and HDN. Existing literature on Kell blood system reports varying frequency of K andk antigens among various populations. The objectives of this study were to determine theprevalence of Kell blood group antigens in the blood donor population at Shaikh Zayed andJinnah Hospitals Lahore and the association of Kell blood group antigens with different ABOblood groups of Lahore population. Study Design: It is a descriptive cross-sectional study.Setting: Research was conducted at the Blood banks of Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore andJinnah Hospital, Lahore. Period: 6 months after the approval of synopsis from 15/06/2015 to15/12/2015. Material and Methods: This study included 192 donors; 96 from Sheikh ZayedHospital, Lahore and 96 from Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. A written informed consent was takenfrom every donor. Kell blood group antigens K and k were determined. Results: There were192 donors, 96 each from Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore and Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. Outof these donors 186 (96.9%) were males and 6 (3.1%) were females. The most frequent ABOblood group antigen observed was B, which was seen in 82 (42.7%) donors, followed byO in 68 (35.4%), A in 36 (18.8%) and AB in 06 (3.1%) donors. Kell antigen k was found in185 (96.3%) donors while K was found in 07 (3.6%) donors. When stratified, there was nostatistically significant difference in the frequency of Kell antigens between genders (p=0.08)and ABO blood groups (0.09). The frequency of k antigen was higher among those with bloodgroup B (43.2% vs. 17.8%) as compared to A, and the frequency of K antigen was higheramong those with blood group A (42.8% vs. 28.5%) as compared to B, however, this wasstatistically insignificant. Conclusion: The frequency of k was observed to be 96.3%. It washigher in donors with antigen B while the frequency of K was found to be 3.6% and it washigher in donors with antigen A.