Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn Differential Diagnoses

Updated: Dec 28, 2017
  • Author: Sameer Wagle, MBBS, MD; Chief Editor: Muhammad Aslam, MD  more...
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DDx

Diagnostic Considerations

In short, all causes of pathologic jaundice and nonimmune fetal hydrops should be considered in the differential diagnosis.

Like hemolytic disease of the newborn, fetal/neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) is caused by anti-RhD antibodies. However, FNAIT is a relatively rare condition (1 in 1000 to 1 in 2000 live births) that occurs when maternal antibodies (primarily anti-HPA1a antibodies in white mothers) attack alloantigens carried on fetal platelets, most often in the first pregnancy but with a high recurrence rate in subsequent pregnancies. [32]  Affected infants have an increased risk of intracranial hemorrhage.

Differential Diagnoses