The management of severe erythroblastosis fetalis by fetal transfusion: survival of transfused adult erythrocytes in the fetus.

The survival of adult erythrocytes transfused into the fetus was measured after intravascular and/or intraperitoneal transfusion. We performed 80 fetal transfusions on 20 severely anemic fetuses, 18 of whom survived. The survival of adult erythrocytes in the fetal circulation was similar to that in the adult circulation and did not depend on the route of transfusion, gestational age, or presence of hydrops. Eighty percent of blood transfused into the fetal peritoneal cavity appeared in the fetal circulation.