A test for antibodies in red blood cells, used as a test for erythroblastosis fetalis and other haemolytic syndromes [Described 1945. After Robin Royston Amos Coombs (1921— ), Quick Professor of Biology, and Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, UK.]
A test to detect, and differentiate between, various types of anemias; most commonly used to detect blood incompatibility reactions in pregnant women and their babies.
A means of detecting antibodies on the surface of red blood cells that can precipitate simple proteins (globulins) in the blood serum. The test is used in the diagnosis of hemolytic anemia (resulting from the destruction of red blood cells).
A sensitive test that detects antibodies to the body’s red cells. There are two methods: one, the direct method, identifies those antibodies that are bound to the cells; the other, indirect, method identifies those circulating unattached in the serum.
A laboratory test for the presence of antibodies, usually blood type antibodies, in serum. The patient’s serum is incubated with red blood cells (RBCs) with known antigenic markers; if antibodies to the antigen are present in the serum, they bind with the RBCs. When antihuman globulin is added, RBC clumping (agglutination) occurs. The test is used- for cross-matching blood before transfusions to ensure that no antigen-antibody reactions will occur and to test for the presence of specific antibodies to RBCs.