Hemolytic disease. Symptoms, clinic, treatment

Hemolytic disease - is a disease that is caused by the incompatibility of the blood of the mother and the future baby for various antigens. There is incompatibility and Rh-factor. This often happens when the mother and fetus have a different Rh factor (for example, the mother has a positive factor, the fetus has a negative Rh factor or vice versa). In case of group incompatibility, the mother and fetus may have different blood groups (for example, the mother has group 0 (1), and the fetus has any other group). Hemolytic disease of the newborn can also develop with the incompatibility of other blood antigens, but this happens extremely rarely.

What are the reasons?

Hemolytic disease in women with negative rhesus occurs quite often. This is a very serious and dangerous disease. The process of occurrence of Rh-conflict is simple: from the fetus to the mother through the placenta antigens arrive. In response, the woman's body produces its own Rh-negative antibodies to kill the opposite Rh-positive red blood cells of the future baby, thereby disastrously acting on his liver, spleen, bone marrow and hematopoiesis. Thus, the destroyed red blood cells lead to the accumulation in the tissues of the fetus bilirubin, which has a toxic effect on the baby's brain. Rhesus factor is determined in the blood of the child already on the third month of intrauterine development. It was from this time that his "conflicts" with his mother begin.

Hemolytic disease of the newborn. Symptoms

To date, studied three forms of this insidious disease: edematous, icteric and anemic. The most severe is the edematous form, with it children are born prematurely or die immediately after birth. In this case, the appearance of a newborn has a characteristic appearance: a moonlike face, waxy pallor, sometimes cyanosis or icterus, subcutaneous fatty tissue. There is a free fluid in the pleural, peritoneal, pericardial cavities, sometimes bruises, petechiae. The liver and spleen of the baby are enlarged. In the blood there is a decrease in erythrocytes and hemoglobin, as well as leukocytosis, erythroblastosis, reticulocytosis.

Hemolytic jaundice of newborns is mild, moderate and severe. It is characterized by the appearance of jaundice immediately after the birth of the fetus or a few hours later. Even amniotic fluid can be colored yellow. Hemolytic jaundice in a baby grows very quickly, the liver and spleen increase, and a tendency to bleeding is observed. Such babies are born sluggish, suck badly, all physiological reflexes in them can be reduced. In the blood, the level of bilirubin increases and on the third or fifth day reaches its maximum. If at this point the child is not treated, the development of nuclear jaundice. There is intracranial hypertension, tonic convulsions, rigidity of the occipital muscles, tremor of the extremities. Typical for this type of disease is the tone of the extensor muscles of the hands, while the general hypotension is increasing.

Anemic form is the easiest manifestation of this disease. With it, there is an increase in the liver and spleen, the number of red blood cells and hemoglobin decreases in the blood.

Hemolytic disease of the newborn. Treatment

The most important thing in medical activities is the early detoxification of the newborn's body, removal of decay products of erythrocytes, antibodies and bilirubin. All this is done in order to stop the hemolysis of red blood cells in the blood of the baby after birth. During this period the child is shown abundant drink, vitamins, enterosorbents, detoxifying solutions. Severe anemia is an indication for an exchange blood transfusion.

In order to prevent hemolytic disease, modern medicine conducts transfusion of blood and its components strictly according to emergency indications in order to prevent the immunization of a woman with foreign antigens. In the case when a pregnant woman shows up Rh-conflict, she is hospitalized and does her best to preserve the health and life of the baby.