Karnataka, India – In a global medical precedent, a new, previously unregistered blood type was discovered in a woman from Kolar district of Karnataka state in southern India.
The discovery came as the 38-year-old woman was preparing to undergo heart surgery, when it turned out that her blood was not compatible with any of the available blood units, according to local media reports in India.
Due to the incompatibility of any of the available blood units, the case was transferred to the Advanced Reference Laboratory for Hemoimmunology at the Blood Donation Center for advanced examinations.
Dr Ankit Mathur, from the aforementioned center, said: “Using advanced serological techniques, our team discovered that the patient’s blood was reacting to all test samples (panreactive), which indicated the possibility of a rare or unknown blood type.. We collected blood samples from 20 of her relatives to look for a match, but found no match.”
The surgery was performed successfully without the need for a blood transfusion, thanks to the cooperation of doctors and the patient’s family.
Dr. Mathur added that blood samples from the patient and her family members were sent to the International Reference Laboratory for Blood Types in Bristol, United Kingdom, where molecular research and examinations continued over a period of ten months, and resulted in the discovery of a new blood antigen that was not previously known.
The new antigen has been classified within the “Cromer” blood group system (Cromer), and is officially called “CRIB”.
