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Hemovigilance systems allow reporting of adverse occurrences associated with blood transfusion to a central database where events can be reviewed and analyzed for the benefit of patients and donors. Hemolytic and serologic transfusion reactions are among the many types of reactions reported to these systems. The Notify Library, a database of adverse events associated with medical products of human origin, has incorporated hemovigilance into its didactic resources. Students and practitioners are encouraged to use the electronic library and to further enhance this resource through review and recommendation of additional publications in the area of immunohematology. Immunohematology2017;33:159–164.

This review was derived from a presentation made on September 2, 2016 for the first Academy Day presented by the Working Party on Immunohematology at the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) Congress in Dubai. The focus of this review is to provide a brief overview of the clinical significance of blood group antibodies. Blood group antibodies can be naturally occurring (e.g., anti-A and anti-B through exposure to naturally occurring red blood cell [RBC] antigen-like substances) or can occur via exposure to foreign (donor) RBC antigens through previous transfusions, transplants, or exposure to fetal RBCs during or after pregnancy. However, not all blood group antibodies are clinically significant. Clinically significant blood group antibodies can cause adverse events after blood component transfusion or transplantation and/or can cause hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. Immunohematology2018;34:4–6.