[The influence of the plasmaexpander hydroxyethyl starch on the serological blood grouping tests as compared to dextran 60 and whole blood (author's transl)].

The influence of HES on serological blood grouping (ABO. Rh. crossmatch) was tested in comparison with dextran. It was shown out that a previous volume substitution up to 20% did not influence the reading of blood grouping determination. Higher dilutions of blood led to rouleaux formation which however could be easily distinguished from agglutination by addition of isotonic saline solution. Crossmatching brings difficulties, as weak antibodies might be missed even using the AHG test due to too high a degree of dilution of the patient's serum by plasma expanders. Increasing the sensitivity be enzyme technics (Papain, Eldon) is not advisable as irreversible non-specific reactions can be found already at low degrees of volume substitution.