Positive DATs on the Echo

[gyp2691]

For those who are performing a DAT with their panel on the Echo, what is your protocol when the DAT is positive? Are you automatically performing an elution or doing other investigations to determine if you need to perform the elution? I've had quite a few patients where the panel does identify an antibody and the Echo DAT is positive. When the elution is performed, it is negative. I just don't want my techs having to perform unecessary procedures and wondered what others were doing.

Thanks

[L106]

It is our practice that on adults we perform Direct Antiglobulin Tests in duplicate; using Anti0IgG in one tube and Polyspecific AHG in the other tube. Since the Echo can only perform the DAT using Anti-IgG, we perform the DAT using tubes.

If the DAT is Positive, we routinely perform an Elution to investigate the cause / identify the problem.

(Sometimes we waive the Elution if we have worked it up recently and the cause of the Positive DAT is something obvious such as a Warm Autoantibody. In this situation, I document why we did not do an elution.)

Donna

[gyp2691]

So I take it that if your Echo DAT is positive, then you perform the DAT in tube. If the tube DAT (IgG) is positive then you would perform the elution.

Thanks, I really appreciate the information!

gyp2691

[L106]

Well, not quite. We do not do DATs on our Echo at all. We only do our DATs using tube technique.