Blood group not found anywhere else in the world discovered at Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Centre

A historic milestone in transfusion medicine has been achieved at the Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Centre, wherein a new blood group, previously unidentified anywhere in the world, has been discovered in a 38-year-old South Indian woman.

The International Blood Group Reference Laboratory (IBGRL) at Bristol in the U.K., which detected the unknown blood group antigen after 10 months of extensive research and molecular testing, has found this new antigen to be part of the Cromer (CR) blood group system. In recognition of its origin, the group has been officially named ‘CRIB’, with CR representing Cromer and IB standing for India, Bengaluru.

When the 38-year-old woman was admitted to the R.L. Jalappa Hospital and Research Centre in Kolar for a cardiac surgery in February last year, little did she know she would make history. Her blood group was O Positive. The surgeons asked the hospital blood bank to keep compatible blood in readiness prior to the surgery. But they could not find a single matched unit from their stock of O Positive blood.

Ankit Mathur, Additional Medical Director at the Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Centre, told The Hindu on Tuesday that her blood sample was sent from Jalappa hospital to the Advanced Immunohematology Reference Lab at Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Centre, where it was found to be ‘Panreactive’. This means it was incompatible (not matching) with all the samples they tested using advanced techniques.

Family tested

“This case was very complicated, and it was a strong indication of a rare blood group. Since rare blood types sometimes occur as clusters in a family, we collected blood samples from 20 of her family members, including her children. However, none of her family members were a match either. We counselled her family and physicians, and thankfully, her surgery and recovery were managed smoothly without the need for any blood transfusions,” Dr. Mathur said.

“In future, if the woman needs a blood transfusion, we may have to do an autologous transfusion. If it is a planned surgery, we may have to give her iron supplements to boost her haemoglobin levels and collect her own blood and use it if necessary for the surgery,” he explained.

Subsequently, the blood samples of the patient as well as the family were sent to the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory (IBGRL), Bristol, U.K. “After about 10 months of advanced testing, the IBGRL reported that she has a never-before-described blood group antigen. They enumerated the structure and function of this antigen using molecular and other techniques. It was a new antigen within the blood group system called Cromer (CR),” said Soumee Banerjee, consultant (Transfusion Medicine) at the Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Centre.

At the 35th Regional Congress of the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT), held in Milan, Italy, on June 4, 2025, this antigen was named CRIB.  “This makes the woman the first person in the world to present with this antigen. The blood group nomenclature is decided by the ISBT, Red Cell Immunogenetics and Terminology,” Dr. Banerjee said.

Rare donor registry

To support the blood requirements of patients with rare blood groups, Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Centre’s Bangalore Medical Services Trust (BMST), in association with the Karnataka State Blood Transfusion Council, and ICMR’s National Institute of Immunohematology, launched a ‘Rare Blood Donor’ programme in January last year.

“We have been instrumental in identifying and providing optimal transfusion support to several other rare blood type patients (such as D- -, Rh null, and In b negative) over the recent years. These cases have also been published and presented at international forums. Till today, we have conducted testing on 2,108 regular repeat donors and found 21 donors are in the rare blood group type,” Dr. Mathur added.