Clinical and epidemiological profile of patients with hemolytic anemia of the newborn treated in a university hospital, Medellin, Colombia, 2014-2018

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) refers to the perinatal effects of fetal maternal erythrocyte isoimmunization that leads to an immune reaction allowing lysis of these cells. OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical and epidemiological profile of patients with HDN treated in a university hospital during the 2014-2018 period. Materials and methods: Observational, descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study that included neonates with EHRN and their mothers. A non-probabilistic sampling of consecutive cases was carried out. RESULTS: 216 newborns diagnosed with HDN were included, with a mean gestational age of 38.1±2.18 weeks. Blood group A predominated in the neonate with 62.5% and group O in the mother with 88.4%. Regarding the clinical presentation, 85.1% of the patients presented jaundice, 86.4% received phototherapy and only 1.4% had complications. CONCLUSION: The HDN in this study shows jaundice as the most frequent sign, allowing a diagnosis generally in the first 48 hours postpartum and an effective and timely intervention. It was identified that a large part of the population required phototherapy and red blood cell transfusions for their treatment to avoid later complications.