This is (supposed to be) a reflective diary by a (not very) anonymous biomedical scientist who works somewhere in the south of England. One day this diary may well be submitted to the Health and Care Professions Council as evidence of ongoing continual professional development....
Here’s
an interesting article on the treatment of symptomatic neutropenia. Reading
this makes it pretty clear that genetics has moved on a lot since I was at
college, and this is why I need to do CPD.
I can’t pretend to understand the
article entirely, but some of it stuck.
50265 – a thirty year old woman in the haematology clinic needing four units of FFP for a Factor V deficiency.Great Ormond Street say they use FFP to treat Factor V deficiency, so if it is good enough for them, it is good enough for me.She grouped as A Rh(D) Positive with a negative antibody screen.I issued four units of A FFP11250 – an eighty-nine year old chap in the out patients requiring group and saveHe too grouped as A Rh(D) Positive but with an antibody screen positive in cells 2 & 3. I requested antibody panels.The IAT and enzyme panels were positive in cells 1, 3, 4 6 and 7 corresponding with anti-Jk(a)
The HCPC sent their update today. You
can read it by
clicking here. Like the UKAS update it’s rather dry and at first sight
maybe not that relevant to my daily round. But it pays to keep abreast of
things…
For example they are changing how they
are taking the direct debit payments…
UKAS sent their update today. You can
read it by
clicking here. Back in the day I would have been very negative and
opinionated about it. These days I’ve conceded that love it or loathe it, this
is how it is, and I might as well embrace it.
If only they would actually say what
their standards were and how we might practically adhere to them than I would
find it much easier to get on-board with them… but there it is.
An interesting case… an iron-deficient
case of hereditary elliptocytosis. There’s more about it in my atlas…
30883 – a twenty-three year-old woman in theatre having LSCS needing group & save. She grouped as O Rh(D) Positive with a negative antibody screen.65153 – a ninety year old chap in theatre having a hernia sorted needing group & save. He also grouped as O Rh(D) Positive but with antibody screen positive in cells 1 & 3. I performed antibody panels. The IAT panel was positive in cells 1, 3, 6, 9 and 10 corresponding with anti Fy(a) but not ruling out anti-Cw or anti Lu(a). However the enzyme panel being negative throughout did rule those out.
I created a page on eosinophils in my Atlas today. A very basic page…
so basic that there’s not actually anything at all on there. But it is
something… it’s a start. I shall work on it.. and work on the rest of the atlas
too…
93489 – a thirty-two year-old chap with a bladder tumour requiring group and save.He grouped as B Rh(D) Positive with antibody screen positive in cells 1 & 2. I performed antibody panels. The enzyme panel was negative throughout, and the IAT panel was positive in cells 2,4,5,7,8,and 10 corresponding with anti-Fy(b).96881 – a seventy-seven year-old woman with an aortic aneurysm requiring six units of blood within two hours.She grouped as A Rh(D) Positive with antibody screen positive in cells 2 & 3. I performed antibody panels. The IAT and enzyme panels were positive in cells 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7 corresponding with anti-Jk(a).I went through the A and the O blood and found four units that were Jk(a) Negative and selected them.
The nice people at Westgard QC sent their
update today. Perhaps a tad heavy going, but all useful stuff…
Well… the question is worded rather badly. The cell is a neutrophil. One showing toxic granulation and with a Dohle body. You see these in septic conditions and when there’s a lot going on in the bone marrow – like when the patient is being treated with stimulating factors.
The nice people at the American Society
of Hematology sent an update about various clinical trials today. Perhaps a tad
over my head, but all useful stuff…
ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
Safety and efficacy of rilzabrutinib vs placebo in adults with immune thrombocytopenia: the phase 3 LUNA3 study.
Kuter, D.J., et al. (2025). Blood. [Record in progress].
PICO SUMMARY
TOP ARTICLES
The effect of delayed cord clamping on early cardiac and cerebral hemodynamics, mortality, and severe intraventricular hemorrhage in preterm infants < 32 weeks: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials.
Aljohani, E., and Goyal, M. (2025). European Journal of Pediatrics.
A cost-effective measure to prevent hemorrhage in ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy.
Cai, Q., and Wu, X. (2025). BMC Gastroenterology.
Multicentre randomised controlled trial of a self-assembling haemostatic gel to prevent delayed bleeding following endoscopic mucosal resection (PURPLE Trial).
Drews, J., et al. (2025). Gut. [Record in progress].
Plasma exchange therapy for the post COVID-19 condition: a phase II, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial.
España-Cueto, S., et al. (2025). Nature Communications.
Facilitators of and barriers to blood donation among voluntary non-remunerated blood donors in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.
Gondwe, A., et al. (2025). Vox Sanguinis. [Record in progress].
Early, very high-titre convalescent plasma therapy in clinically vulnerable individuals with mild COVID-19: an international, randomised, open-label trial.
Hoffmann, S., et al. (2025). EBioMedicine.
Effect of fresh whole blood donation on human performance in United States Special Forces.
Houser, A.P., et al. (2025). Journal of Special Operations Medicine.
Implementation strategies for WHO guidelines to prevent, detect, and treat postpartum hemorrhage.
Semrau, K., et al. (2025). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Red blood cell transfusion management for people undergoing cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease.
Wilkinson, K.L., et al. (2025). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
