Abstract
Abstract In the space of a little over five years, the Rh factor has risen from a position of laboratory obscurity to a subject of definite clinical importance. In this short time theories were swiftly advanced and just as quickly proved or disproved by clinical experience and further investigation. This evolution was so rapid that almost immediately it became difficult for the busy clinician to keep pace with the fast-changing terminology and the latest theories and their application. Yet in the early period of the Rh study, its implications in the field of obstetrics were realized. Consequently, late in 1943, the author was assigned the problem of keeping abreast of the literature, and, with the available material, of adopting measures which could be applied on a large scale at the Woman's Clinic of the New York Hospital. It is the purpose of this paper to trace the changes in clinic policy as our knowledge increased and Rh testing materials became available. The statistics of almost 5,000 Rh determinations will be analyzed and a few interesting cases and observations discussed. We may say at this point that several tragic and near-tragic errors were made; on the other hand, many more were avoided. Two transfusion deaths resulting from Rh incompatibility will be reported.
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