Abstract
F OLLOWING close upon Landsteiner and Wiener ' s I discovery of the Rh factor, Levine and his associates 2 developed the idea of maternal isoimmunization i n the pathogenesis of erythrob]astosis fetalis, demonstrating the relationship between Rh incompatibili ty and erythroblastosis fetalis. In over 90 per cent of the cases the fa ther and child were Rh positive and the mother, Rh negative. Clinically, erythroblastosis fetalis is considered as a single disease with three chief recognized forms, called fetal hydrops, icterus gravis, and congenital anemia. Erythroblastosis fetalis is generally considered as being synonymous with Rh incompatibili ty and associated with Rh-negative mothers in over 90 per cent of the eases. However, not ~11 cases of erythroblastosis fetalis are caused by the Rh antigen-antibody reaction. On a theoretical basis, incompatibilities can occur f rom any blood antigen which is present in the father, t ransmit ted to the offspring, and absent in the mother. The Rh subgroups, the H r factor, and ABO group incompatibilities are possible etiological agents. The M, N, and P factors are apparent ly not antigenic. Tovey a gives four reasons why the fetus enjoys protection from the mother 's agglutinins in heterospeeific pregnancies :
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