Review Note
Last Update: 10/08/2024 02:15 PM
Current Deck: SC1 Peds::Neonatology::Neonatal Jaundice
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Explain how Rhesus incompatibility can cause haemolytic disease of the newborn.
{{c1::When a woman that is rhesus D negative becomes pregnant, we have to consider the possibility that her child will be rhesus D positive. It is likely at some point in the pregnancy the blood from the baby will find a way into her bloodstream. When this happens, the baby’s red blood cells display the rhesus D antigen. The mother’s immune system will recognise this rhesus D antigen as foreign and produce antibodies to the rhesus D antigen. The mother has then become sensitised to rhesus D antigens.
{{c1::When a woman that is rhesus D negative becomes pregnant, we have to consider the possibility that her child will be rhesus D positive. It is likely at some point in the pregnancy the blood from the baby will find a way into her bloodstream. When this happens, the baby’s red blood cells display the rhesus D antigen. The mother’s immune system will recognise this rhesus D antigen as foreign and produce antibodies to the rhesus D antigen. The mother has then become sensitised to rhesus D antigens.
During subsequent pregnancies, the mother’s anti-D antibodies can cross the placenta into the fetus. If that fetus is rhesus positive, these antibodies attach themselves to the red blood cells of the fetus and causes the immune system of the fetus to attack their own red blood cells. This leads to haemolysis, causing anaemia and high bilirubin levels. This leads to haemolytic disease of the newborn.
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