31 October 2022 (Monday) - Diagnostica Stago Newsletter

The newsletter from Diagnostica Stago arrived in my in-box this morning. Like many corporate newsletters there is arguably too much of a focus on their latest blood testing device (for my liking), but it is a free newsletter, and selling their blood testing devices allow them to provide me with a free newsletter. 

 

I’ve often mentioned that haemostasis-related CPD is difficult to come by, and this is very useful.

28 October 2022 (Friday) - Batten's Disease

Whilst sitting at the microscope looking at (seemingly) ten thousand blood films I read an interesting diagnosis… “blood film for Batten’s disease”.

Well… what was that supposed to mean?

I had a little look on-line and came up with a reference.

 

… Batten disease is a rare inherited lysosomal storage disorder. Lysosomes are compartments within a cell that degrade substances that are no longer needed. Lysosomes that are unable to degrade wastes as intended, as in Batten disease, allow lipofuscins, fatty granular substances, to accumulate inside cells. This can lead to the formation of abnormal and distinctive vacuoles…

 

… make a blood film. The slide is then viewed under a light microscope. Large vacuoles can easily be detected …

 

I never knew that… One lives and learns – which is entirely the point of doing CPD.

26 October 2022 (Wednesday) - Transfusion Evidence Alert Update

The nice people at Transfusion Evidence Alert sent their update today… too much for my poor brain to take in on one sitting, but all good stuff…

 

TOP ARTICLES

A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial of albumin in patients with hepatic encephalopathy: HEAL study.
Fagan, A., et al. (2022). Journal of Hepatology. [Record in progress].

Testing equivalence of two doses of intravenous iron to treat iron deficiency in pregnancy: A randomised controlled trial.
Froessler, B., et al. (2022). BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. [Record in progress].

A randomized trial of blood donor iron repletion on red cell quality for transfusion and donor cognition and wellbeing.
Hod, E.A., et al. (2022). Blood. [Record in progress].

Health-related quality of life after restrictive versus liberal RBC transfusion for cardiac surgery: Sub-study from a randomized clinical trial.
Hu, R.T., et al. (2022). Transfusion.

Hydroxyurea (hydroxycarbamide) for sickle cell disease.
Rankine-Mullings, A.E., and Nevitt, S.J., (2022). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Thrombelastography (TEG®6s) early amplitudes predict maximum amplitude in severely injured trauma patients.
Vigstedt, M., et al. (2022). Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation.

HLA Class II regulation of immune response in sickle cell disease patients: Susceptibility to red blood cell alloimmunization (systematic review and meta-analysis).
Wong, K., Lai, W.K., and Jackson, D.E., (2022). Vox Sanguinis. [Record in progress].

Predictors of transfusion in trauma and their utility in the prehospital environment: a scoping review
Yin, G., et al. (2022). Prehospital Emergency Care. [Record in progress].

Coronavirus disease 2019 subphenotypes and differential treatment response to convalescent plasma in critically ill adults: secondary analyses of a randomized clinical trial.
Fish, M., et al. (2022). Intensive Care Medicine.

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH Thromboelastography-Guided Therapy Enhances Patient Blood Management in Cirrhotic Patients: A Meta-analysis Based on Randomized Controlled Trials. Hartmann, J., et al. (2022). Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis. [Record in progress]. PICO Summary available +++++