What is the purpose of the saline (RhC) control?

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Multiple Choice

What is the purpose of the saline (RhC) control?

The purpose of the saline control is to check for spontaneous RBC agglutination. By testing red cells suspended in saline without any antibody or antiglobulin reagent, you can see if clumping occurs on its own (rouleaux or non-specific agglutination). If agglutination appears in this control, the test results could be invalid, because the observed clumping in the actual assay might not reflect a specific antigen–antibody reaction. The other options describe roles outside the saline control: AHG binding is evaluated during the antiglobulin phase, ABO grouping is determined by ABO typing, and viability is assessed separately.

The purpose of the saline control is to check for spontaneous RBC agglutination. By testing red cells suspended in saline without any antibody or antiglobulin reagent, you can see if clumping occurs on its own (rouleaux or non-specific agglutination). If agglutination appears in this control, the test results could be invalid, because the observed clumping in the actual assay might not reflect a specific antigen–antibody reaction. The other options describe roles outside the saline control: AHG binding is evaluated during the antiglobulin phase, ABO grouping is determined by ABO typing, and viability is assessed separately.

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