Reevaluation of the polyvinylpyrrolidone sedimentation test in the diagnosis of ABO hemolytic disease of the newborn.

The rate of cord erythrocytes sedimentation in 1.5% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) solution was investigated. Of 70 infants showing accelerated sedimentation rate, 49 had signs of hemolytic disease. Rh incompatibility did not affect the sedimentation rate. Infectious diseases might cause a slight increase in the rate of sedimentation. The test was found to be very sensitive. It could detect ABO incompatibilities even in absence of marked bilirubinemia. Furthermore, positive identification of incompatibilities were obtained in ABO-HDN cases where both direct and indirect Coombs tests were negative. High correlation was noted between anti A and B titer of maternal sera and the accelerated sedimentation of newborn red blood cells. The erythrocytes sedimentation test in PVP (PVP-ESR test) is recommended for the early detection of cases in which the red cells are affected by IgG anti-A or anit-B.