COMPARISON BETWEEN GEL CARD AND CONVENTIONAL DIRECT COOMBS TEST FOR DIAGNOSIS OF AUTOIMMUNE HAEMOLYTIC ANAEMIA

Background: The diagnosis of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) requires the establishment of hemolysis and demonstration of autoantibodies against red cells. Most laboratories_use the conventional Coomb's test for the demonstration of the autoantibodies. However, in approximately 4-8% of the patients who present with the clinical and haematological features of AIHA, the direct agglutination test is negative on repeated testing. Attempts are therefore being made to identify a test which could be more sensitive than the conventional test, yet retaining the simplicity and cost effectiveness of the test. Aims & Objective: Comparison between Gel card and Conventional Direct Coombs Test for diagnosis of autoimmune haemolytic anemia. Material and Methods: Direct Coomb's test done by conventional methods and Gel card methods. In the present study, the efficacy of the newly developed gel card test has been compared with the conventional Coomb's test for detection of autoantibodies in 100 cases clinically suspected to have haemolytic anemia in Guru Gobind Singh Government Hospital, Jamnagar. Results and Conclusion: The gel card picked up the antibodies in all the cases that were detected to be positive by the conventional test. In addition the gel card also picked up 2 tests which were negative by the conventional method. In view of the high sensitivity, specificity and the simplicity of the procedure this test (Gel Method) may be effectively used for diagnosis of AIHA.