Transfusion of Rh-incompatible blood components to cancer patients.

To study the effects of Rh0D incompatible transfusion of platelets and/or granulocyte concentrates, we analyzed the transfusion history of 118 oncology patients. Patients received a mean 36.2 units of random platelets, a mean 6.2 concentrates of single donor platelets, and a mean 8.4 concentrates of granulocytes. Patients were not treated with anti-Rh0D specific immunoglobulin following the incompatible transfusions. The patients were followed for a mean 9.4 months to detect the appearance of Rh0D antibodies. Of the 118 patients, 3 were lost to follow-up. Of the remaining 115, 2 cases (1.74%) developed anti-Rh0D following administration of the incompatible transfusions.