When is an elution performed?

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Multiple Choice

When is an elution performed?

Explanation:
Elution is used to identify antibodies that are already bound to a patient’s red cells. This is only meaningful when the direct antiglobulin test (DAT) is positive, because a positive DAT shows that antibodies (usually IgG) are coating the red cells. By eluting or removing those bound antibodies from the cells and testing the resulting eluate against a panel of red cells, you can determine the specificity of the antibody. If the DAT is negative, there aren’t antibodies bound to the cells to recover, so elution wouldn’t be informative. It isn’t routine to perform during pretransfusion crossmatch or ABO typing, since those steps assess compatibility and identify circulating antibodies in the patient’s plasma, rather than antibodies bound to the patient’s cells.

Elution is used to identify antibodies that are already bound to a patient’s red cells. This is only meaningful when the direct antiglobulin test (DAT) is positive, because a positive DAT shows that antibodies (usually IgG) are coating the red cells. By eluting or removing those bound antibodies from the cells and testing the resulting eluate against a panel of red cells, you can determine the specificity of the antibody. If the DAT is negative, there aren’t antibodies bound to the cells to recover, so elution wouldn’t be informative. It isn’t routine to perform during pretransfusion crossmatch or ABO typing, since those steps assess compatibility and identify circulating antibodies in the patient’s plasma, rather than antibodies bound to the patient’s cells.

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