HEMOLYTIC REACTIONS PRODUCED IN DOGS BY TRANSFUSION OF INCOMPATIBLE DOG BLOOD AND PLASMA I. SEROLOGIC AND HEMATOLOGIC ASPECTS

H EMOLYTIC transfusion reactions occur more frequently than is generally appreciated and their incidence can be expected to increase for some time as the distribution of blood is facilitated. Many are doubtless overlooked because the outward manifestations may not be particularly striking, especially in anesthe-tized patients and in certain recipients transfused with plasma or with blood from universal donors. Despite the increasing importance of such reactions, their pathologic physiology remains poorly understood and cannot be adequately ex-plored in human subjects. Consideration of these facts stimulated the authors to make observations on planned hemolytic reactions in dogs with the hope that the results might find general application in the field of immuno-hematology, and that they might throw light on the behavior of the kidney when subjected to certain types of insult. The purpose of this paper is to describe preliminary serologic and hematologic observations on reactions produced in dogs by transfusion of incompatible whole blood and plasma. Typical experiments are cited to illustrate the usefulness of iso-immune systems in the dog in making quantitative studies of hemolytic phe-nomena. Alterations in renal physiology observed during these experiments are described in an accompanying report.