Cold agglutinin formation in patients undergoing haemodialysis. A possible relationship to dialyser re-use.

Cold agglutinins with anti-N characteristics were shown to develop in as short a time as four months in patients on home dialysis. It appeared that the development of such antibodies is related to dialyser re-use. Those who were treated without re-using their dialyser did not develop these antibodies. Anti-N may cause early graft failure associated with agglutination in a cold allograft. Moreover, if these antibodies develop in patients on dialysis there may be problems with extracorporeal dialysis and blood transfusion.