13 August 2019 (Tuesday) - High Hb?

Here’s an interesting discussion. What’s your upper limit for phoning a high haemoglobin measurement?

The variation expressed by the different contributors to the group was amazing.

Sometimes I worry about the regulation of medical laboratories. We all have to conform to very stringent guidelines… but something as important as an upper limit for a haemoglobin assay is really whatever you want it to be.

Is it too late to revisit the ISO standards and look at what should actually be standardised?

10 August 2019 (Saturday) - Babesiosis.

An interesting post in the Facebook Haematology Interest group – babesiosis.

I’ve never seen it outside of pictures on the internet. Would I recognise it in reality? I’d like to think that I would spot something was amiss, but (in all honesty) I doubt I would recognise it for what it was. Mind you, spotting something that shouldmn’t be there is the important thing…

9 August 2019 (Friday) - Transfusion Evidence Alert

My personal Transfusion Evidence Alert email came in today. As usual there was loads of stuff to read.

Review of Existing Scoring Systems For Massive Blood Transfusion in Trauma Patients: Where Do We Stand?
El-Menyar A; Mekkodathil A; Abdelrahman H; Latifi R; Galwankar S; Al-Thani H; Rizoli S
Shock (Augusta, Ga.). 2019

Mortality and Thrombosis in Injured Adults Receiving Tranexamic Acid in the Post-CRASH-2 Era
Benipal S; Santamarina JL; Vo L; Nishijima DK
The western journal of emergency medicine. 2019;20(3):443-453

Intraarticular injection of platelet-rich plasma in knee osteoarthritis: single versus triple application approach. Pilot study
Simental-Mendia M; Acosta-Olivo CA; Hernandez-Rodriguez AN; Santos-Santos OR; de la Garza-Castro S; Pena-Martinez VM; Vilchez-Cavazos F
Acta reumatologica portuguesa. 2019

Platelet-rich plasma injection for the treatment of chronic Achilles tendinopathy: A meta-analysis
Liu CJ; Yu KL; Bai JB; Tian DH; Liu GL
Medicine. 2019;98(16):e15278

Therapeutic options for adult patients with previously treated immune thrombocytopenia - a systematic review and network meta-analysis
Yang R; Lin L; Yao H; Ji O; Shen Q
Hematology (Amsterdam, Netherlands). 2019;24(1):290-299

Well-being and return rate of first-time whole blood donors
Jansen P; Sumnig A; Esefeld M; Greffin K; Kaderali L; Greinacher A
Vox sanguinis. 2019

Comparative efficacy and safety of intravenous ferric carboxymaltose and iron sucrose for the treatment of preoperative anemia in patients with menorrhagia: An open-label, multicenter, randomized study
Lee S; Ryu KJ; Lee ES; Lee KH; Lee JJ; Kim T
The journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research. 2019;45(4):858-864

Roxadustat Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease-Associated Anemia in Japanese Patients Not on Dialysis: A Phase 2, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial
Akizawa T; Iwasaki M; Otsuka T; Reusch M; Misumi T
Advances in therapy. 2019

Combination therapy using subcision, needling, and platelet-rich plasma in the management of grade 4 atrophic acne scars: A pilot study
Bhargava S; Kroumpouzos G; Varma K; Kumar U
Journal of cosmetic dermatology. 2019

[Effectiveness and mechanism of pure platelet-rich plasma on osteochondral injury of talus]
Wei F; Wang Z
Zhongguo xiu fu chong jian wai ke za zhi = Zhongguo xiufu chongjian waike zazhi = Chinese journal of reparative and reconstructive surgery. 2019;33(5):555-562

8 August 2019 (Thursday) - Transfusion News

The “Transfusion News” email appeared in my in-box this morning. All sorts of useful stuff and even a podcast too…

Transfusion of African Children with Severe Anemia

August 7, 2019 In order to better understand when to transfuse children with severe anemia (hemoglobin less than 6 g per deciliter) researchers from the United Kingdom and Africa collaborated on the Transfusion and Treatment of Severe Anemia in African Children Trial (TRACT)—an open-label, factorial, randomized controlled trial [Read More]

A New Class of Drug to Treat Anemia in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

July 31, 2019 Erythropoietin and iron supplements have been used for 30 years to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease, but erythropoiesis-stimulating agents can only be safely used to [Read More]

Radioactive! with Chris Tormey

July 31, 2019 | BBGuy Podcast Irradiation prevents TA-GHVD, a lethal transfusion complication. But does it really do what you think it does? [Listen Now]

WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo an International Emergency

July 25, 2019 The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Since the outbreak was declared in August 2018, 2522 EVD cases have been reported [Read More]

5 August 2019 (Monday) - Cw

Here’s a little discussion on the Facebook Blood Bank Interest Group. The C^w antigen and the anti- C^w antibody and what do do if a patient with the antibody needs a blood transfusion.

The discussion was interesting; as always it would seem that some of those contributing knew far more than others. But a Facebook discussion that doesn’t descend into petty bickering is always a good thing.

1 August 2019 (Thursday) - Fritsma Factor

The “Fritsma Factor” newsletter appeared in my in-box this morning. There was a link to a discussion about managing trauma, talk about von Willebrand disease, anticoagulants, and all sorts of stuff. Quite a useful little resource…

1 August 2019 (Thursday) - Malaria

Here’s something which I found in the Facebook Hematology Interest Group. Someone with two different strains of malaria. Would I spot this? I’d like to think I’d spot the malaria. But would I spot the two different species?...