Anti D/Rhogam

I just read a report that said RH negative women with thrombocytopenia should not be treated with Anti-D.

Why would this be when they are given itduring pregnancy?

It's my understanding that the reason rh negative women shouldn't have Anti D (winrho) because it wouldn't be effective. The reason they give it to rh positive women is because he anti D will "attack" rh positive hemoglobin, thus giving the spleen something else to keep it busy instead of attacking platelets. Since RH negative women by the definition of being RH negative have no positive rh factors, the anti D would be useless. RH positive people who receive this therapy run the risk of hemolytic anemia, the breakdown of red blood cells.

Hope that helps.

I'm not going to get the medical terms exactly right here, but in it's simplest form blood is O negative is the "base", then other antigens and factors are included. People with type A or B have one antigen and AB has 2 antigens. Which is why O- is the universal donor (everyone can recieve O- without the body seeing it as foriegn) and why AB+ is the universal recieptent but O- must recieve O-. Positive people can recieve negative blood types with fewer or equal antigens since it includes nothing to reject, but the "postive" factor causes the body of a person with negative blood to see it as foriegn.

Pregnant women who are RH negative are given Winrho in about the 20th week in case the baby is postive to prevent complications. If the baby is born postive, then Mom is given another shot in case they chose to have another child.

Truthfully the docs are not completely sure of all the complex interactions that causes WinRho to increase platlets, but they know it seems to bind with red blood cells and flush them from the body for individual who still have their spleen and their blood typ is positive. However, it is why they also monitor for the risk of anemia as the previous poster noted.