Naturally occurring anti M complicating ABO grouping

• Main Authors: Safoorah Khalid, Roelyn Dantes, Sunu Varghese, Imadeddin Al Hakawati
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2011-01-01
• Series: Indian Journal of Pathology and Microbiology
• Subjects: ABO discrepancy; anti M; blood grouping; naturally occurring antibody
• Online Access: http://www.ijpmonline.org/article.asp?issn=0377-4929;year=2011;volume=54;issue=1;spage=170;epage=172;aulast=Khalid

Anti M is considered a naturally occurring antibody that is usually active at temperatures below 37°C and is thus of no clinical significance. This antibody, if present in an individual, can lead to a discrepancy between forward and reverse ABO grouping and thus creates diagnostic difficulties for blood bank staff. We report a case of a 58-year-old lady who had an unexpected reaction in reverse grouping due to anti M that posed a problem for us in the interpretation of results of her blood group. We also reviewed the literature to find out the significance of such discrepancy in blood grouping.