This lecture is the first in a sequence of three lectures intended to introduce the beginning student to immunohematology.  It begins with a brief history of immunohematology, followed by a description of how blood group antibodies lead to the destruction of red blood cells and of some of the clinical consequences of hemolytic transfusion reactions.  The lecture ends with an introduction to agglutination testing, the uses of anti-human globulin, and blood groups and blood group antibodies.

This lecture is the second in the three-lecture series on immunohematology for the beginning student.  It expands on the discussion of agglutination testing introduced in the previous lecture and illustrates ABO and Rh typing tests. The use of anti-human globulin in the indirect and direct antiglobulin tests is then introduced, including the various ways in which these tests are used to answer immunohematologic questions. Various strategies used to increase the sensitivity of agglutination tests are then described, including the solid phase and gel test formats.  Finally, there is a discussion of how these tests are combined in order to provide safe transfusions.

This lecture is the third in the three-lecture series on immunohematology for the beginning student.  It discusses how the tests introduced in the previous lectures are used together in order to identify blood group antibodies as alloantibodies or autoantibodies, and to identify their specificities, if present.  After listening to these lectures it is hoped that the student will be ready to try to solve the case studies.