9 January 2022 (Sunday) - Getting Cross with the BTLP-TACT (again)

Time for a BTLP-TACT exercise. After having my login declined the software suddenly let me in and presented me with two cases 

44046 – a fifty year old woman in the orthopaedic out patient department requiring two units of blood tomorrow.

She grouped as O Rh(D) positive with a positive antibody screen (positive in cells 2 & 3). I requested antibody panels. The enzyme and IAT panels were positive in cells 1, 3, 4, 6 & 7 which corresponded with anti-Jk(a) but did not exclude anti-Cw or anti-E

I selected Jk(a)-negative E-negative units and assumed that Rh Negative units were Cw Negative too

01120 – a forty-seven year old chap in out patients requiring two units of irradiated blood within the hour.

He grouped as A Rh(D) positive with a positive antibody screen (positive in in cell 2). I requested antibody panels. The IAT and enzymes panel were positive in cells 3 & 5 which corresponded with anti-E.

I selected two A Rh(D) positive E-negative units

I got the red light… Apparently I identified antibodies in the first case which weren’t there.. and apparently the software didn’t realise I had selected units of blood for this patient.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with someone at BTLP-TACT… I make a note of each thing I select in the software as I select it, and this isn’t the first time what the report says I selected is at odds with the ongoing notes I make.. 

 

6 January 2022 (Thursday) - Transfusion News Update

The nice people at Transfusion News sent their update today which focussed somewhat on sickle cell disease.

LentiGlobin Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease

January 4, 2022 Sickle cell disease (SCD) is caused by a single point mutation in the β-globin gene and affects around 100,000 people in the U.S. SCD can be cured in 14-20% of younger patients who have an HLA-matched donor, but allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplants also carry risk of graft-versus-host disease, graft rejection, and even death. [Read More]

Cost-Effectiveness of Transfusions to Prevent Silent Cerebral Infarcts in Children with Sickle Cell Disease

December 29, 2021 Guidelines published by the American Society of Hematology in 2020 recommend annual transcranial doppler ultrasound (TCD) screening to help identify silent cerebral infarcts in children with severe forms of sickle cell disease (SCD). In children with abnormal TCD screenings, the guidelines recommend transfusions every 3-4 weeks for at least a year to reduce the risk of further silent strokes. [Read More]

Outpatient COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Reduces Hospitalizations

December 21, 2021 While more than 500,000 units of COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) have been transfused in the United States alone, the use and efficacy has become controversial. The World Health Organization recently issued a recommendation that CCP should not be used outside of clinical trials. Almost all of the available randomized clinical trial data, however, are among individuals who were hospitalized. [Read More]

5 January 2022 (Wednesday) - Fritsma Factor Newsletter

The Fritsma Factor Newsletter appeared in my in-box this morning. Perhaps not as full a newsletter as usual, but we have just had Christmas… but it has to be said that the subscription to the newsletter is worth having if only for this frankly brilliant glossary of abbreviations: 

https://www.fritsmafactor.com/abbreviations