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Caitlin Raymond – D is for Decoy: Apparent Rh-Specificity in Warm Autoantibodies
Caitlin R./LinkedIn
Oct 18, 2025, 05:34

Caitlin Raymond – D is for Decoy: Apparent Rh-Specificity in Warm Autoantibodies

 

Caitlin Raymond, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Transfusion Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, posted on LinkedIn:

”D is for Decoy: When “anti-D” isn’t what it seems
An O-positive patient’s plasma looked like it contained anti-D – until the autocontrol came back positive and the eluate was a panagglutinin.
That combination changes everything.

When plasma reactivity appears Rh-specific but the eluate reacts with everything, you’re not dealing with alloimmunization or passive antibody. You’re seeing an autoantibody with apparent Rh specificity – one of those beautifully deceptive patterns that teaches you to read between the agglutination lines.

In this new Blood, Bytes, and Beyond post, I walk through:
– The testing logic behind ruling out partial D and passive anti-D
– Why Rh-complex autoantibodies often mimic anti-D, anti-e, or anti-C
– How to document these cases clearly so no one chases a phantom alloantibody later

For anyone who’s ever stared at a positive autocontrol and thought “wait a second…,” this one’s for you.”

Read the full post here.

Warm Autoantibodies

 

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Alloimmunization Anti-D Caitlin Raymond Health Hematology Hemostasis Hemostasis Today Medicine Pathology thrombosis Transfusion Medicine University of Wisconsin-Madison Warm Autoantibodies
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