The patient asks the nurse what this test will tell the doctor. The nurse replies?

A patient has been diagnosed with anemia. The physician suspects an immune hemolytic anemia and orders a Coombs test. The patient asks the nurse what this test will tell the doctor. The nurse replies,

Answers:

A. “They are looking for the presence of antibody or complement on the surface of the RBC.”

B. “They will wash your RBCs and then mix the cells with a reagent to see if they clump together.”

C. “They will look at your RBCs under a microscope to see if they have an irregular shape (poikilocytosis).”

D. “They will be looking to see if you have enough ferritin in your blood.”