Cold agglutinin titre

Blood Transfusion

Purpose

Cold haemagglutinin disease (CHAD) accounts for 16-32% of all cases of immune haemolysis. It occurs as an acute or chronic condition. The acute form is often secondary to lymphoproliferative disorders or Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.

Notes

The test is no longer performed by Blood Transfusion at GHNHSFT. The test is referred to NHSBT.

This is a non-accredited test as there is no EQA scheme available

The following factors are known to significantly affect the performance of the examination or the interpretation of the results: lipaemia, sample clotted, haemolysed. Any sample displaying these factors cannot be processed and will be rejected.

Sample Requirements

2 x 6ml EDTA samples

There are no specific storage or transport arrangements required.

6mL EDTA tube

Required Information

Sample and request form must be labelled correctly with 4 points of reference:

1. Unique identification number
   
2. Surname
   
3. First name
   
4. Date of birth.
   

The request form and sample must be signed, dated and timed by the person taking the blood sample.

Unlabelled, incorrectly labelled or inadequately labelled specimens will not be accepted. No specimen is considered unrepeatable.

Alert values

The NHSBT report received will give clinical interpretation to the results obtained.

Turnaround times

10 working days