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Rh incompatibility - Symptom

Alternative Names

Rh-induced hemolytic disease of the newborn

Symptoms:

Rh incompatibility can cause symptoms ranging from very mild to deadly. In its mildest form, Rh incompatibility causes the destruction of red blood cells.

After birth, the infant may have:

Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice)
Low muscle tone (hypotonia) and lethargy

Signs and tests:

Before delivery, the mother may have an increased amount of amniotic fluid around her unborn baby (polyhydramnios).

There may be:

A positive direct Coombs test result
Higher-than-normal levels of bilirubin in the baby's umbilical cord blood
Signs of red blood cell destruction in the infant's blood

Erythroblastosis fetalis, photomicrograph

Jaundice infant

Antibodies

Exchange transfusion - series

Rh Incompatibility - series

Reviewed last on: 8/30/2011
A.D.A.M. Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, and David R. Eltz. Previously reviewed by Kimberly G Lee, MD, MSc, IBCLC, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network (2/10/2011).

References

Stoll BJ. Blood disorders. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 103.

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