What tests confirm Cold Agglutinin Disease?

Most patients are diagnosed with CAD through a positive direct antiglobulin test (DAT) and detectable presence of IgM autoantibody.^1,2

• If CAD is suspected based on initial anemia presentation, first confirm hemolysis is present via bilirubin and LDH blood tests
• Then, confirm polyspecific DAT and monospecific DAT for C3d
• Perform a full clinical assessment to rule out possible alternative causes for hemolytic anemia and positive DAT
• Next, confirm that Cold Agglutinin Titer is above or equal to 1:64
• Evaluate with further clinical and serological assessments to confirm diagnosis of CAD
• To distinguish CAD from CAS, confirm no infection or overt malignancy
• If no infection or overt malignancy is present, diagnose with CAD
• If overt malignancy is present, diagnose with CAS
• If febrile infection is present, determine if onset of anemia occurred before infection. If so, diagnose with CAD; if not, diagnose with CAS

Find out more about CAD diagnosis here.