Usefulness of column agglutination test for irregular antibody screening and identification

Oh, Gwi Yeung; Huh, Jung Won; Lee, Mi Ae; Chung, Wha Soon

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Type and screen is recommended for efficient use of blood and reduction in workload in blood bank. Column agglutiation test is standardized and easy to perform, and provide clear and stable reactions that improve the interpretation of results. In this study, we compared column agglutination test(Ortho Diagnostic Systems Inc., USA) with conventional tube test and investigate its usefulness in irregular antibody screening and identification.
METHODS
A total 182 samples were screened for irregular antibodies using column agglutination test and conventional tube test. And 18 patient's sera in which irregular antibodies previously screened by both tube and column agglutination tests were identified for irregular antibodies by tube and column agglutination tests. We compared the results of two tests.
RESULTS
In the screening test, there was 96.7%(176/182) agreements between column agglutination test and conventional tube test. The column agglutination test showed stronger reactivity than tube test. In the irregular antibody identification, there was 88.8%(16/18) agreement between two tests and disagreement were seen in the identification of anti-P1 and anti-Leb antibodies.
CONCLUSION
The results of column agglutination test are objective and superior to the conventional tube test in irregular antibody screening and identification tests. These results suggest that the column agglutination test will be useful and more convenient test in antibody screening and identification.