Increased osmotic fragility of red blood cells was found in 9 out of 1008 Norwegian blood donors. In addition, increased osmotic fragility was found in 3 out of 23 first grade relatives and in 1 out of 4 spouses of individuals with the same condition. Finally, there was a positive correlation between increased osmotic fragility and morphological signs of spherocytosis (P < 0.05). No definite conclusions with respect to underlying mechanism(s) for this high prevalence of non‐symptomatic increased osmotic fragility can be offered, but very mild hereditary spherocytosis, environmental factors and even a normal variant, never associated with haemolysis, may have contributed. Furthermore, until more specific and sensitive laboratory techniques have been introduced, a proper distinction between these 3 conditions cannot be made.

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The limited value of the antiglobulin phase of the cross match when a careful antibody screening is performed was demonstrated by analyzing 73,407 compatibility tests for 23,857 patients. By the blood grouping and screening of these patients, 178 cases were detected with unexpected blood group antibodies that had not been previously observed. Unexpected antibodies were detected in an additional 13 patients by the saline phase of the cross-match. In addition, the antiglobulin phase disclosed only one patient with a very weak anti-Lea and two patients whose sera gave doubtful reactions, possibly representing antibodies, but too weak to be identified.

Summary A hemolytic transfusion reaction is reported in which no incompatibility was demonstrable in vitro. However, a determination of the survival time of Cr51‐tagged red cells from several donors showed that only eight to 17 per cent of the cells were present in the recipient's circulation 30 hours after the injection. Résumé Les auteurs décrivent une réaction transfusionnelle hémolytique dans laquelle aucune incompatibilité ne peut être démontrée in vitro. Cependant, la détermination du temps de survie des érythrocytes provenant de différents donneurs, marqués au Cr 51, a montré que sedement 8 à 17 % des érythrocytes transfusés étaient décelables dans la circulation du receveur 30 heures après l'injection. Zusammenfassung Es wird eine hämolytische Transfusionsreaktion beschrieben, bei svelcher in vitro keine Unverträglichkeit nachgewiesen werden konnte. Trotzdem wurden in vivo die Erythrozyten verschiedener Spender rasch aus der Zirkulation elirniniert. 30 Stunden nach der Injektion von Cr51‐markierten Spendererythrozyten konnten nur 8 bis 17 Prozent der injizierten Zellen nachgewiesen werden.

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