What is the importance of running a saline control in forward grouping?

What is the importance of running a saline control in forward grouping?

• A. To confirm group AB positive
• B. To check for technical error
• C. To ensure specific agglutination
• D. To identify atypical antibodies

Answer: (C)

Running a saline control in forward grouping is crucial to ensure specific agglutination. In forward grouping, red blood cells (RBCs) are mixed with known antisera to determine the blood group based on the agglutination reaction. It is essential to confirm that the observed agglutination is indeed due to the specific reactions of the antigens present on the RBCs with the corresponding antibodies in the antisera. The saline control serves as a baseline test to establish that agglutination occurs only when the specific antigen-antibody interaction is taking place. If agglutination occurs in the saline control, it may indicate that the reaction is non-specific, possibly due to other factors such as cellular debris or non-specific agglutinins in the serum. Thus, a saline control helps differentiate between specific agglutination (indicating the correct blood group) and nonspecific agglutination, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the blood typing results.

Running a saline control in forward grouping is crucial to ensure specific agglutination. In forward grouping, red blood cells (RBCs) are mixed with known antisera to determine the blood group based on the agglutination reaction. It is essential to confirm that the observed agglutination is indeed due to the specific reactions of the antigens present on the RBCs with the corresponding antibodies in the antisera.

The saline control serves as a baseline test to establish that agglutination occurs only when the specific antigen-antibody interaction is taking place. If agglutination occurs in the saline control, it may indicate that the reaction is non-specific, possibly due to other factors such as cellular debris or non-specific agglutinins in the serum. Thus, a saline control helps differentiate between specific agglutination (indicating the correct blood group) and nonspecific agglutination, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the blood typing results.