11 May 2026 (Monday) - BTLP-TACT Exercise

 

I’ve got backache and it’s raining. I might as well do a BTLP-TACT exercise, mightn’t I?

It gave me two cases:

 

44156 – a forty-two year-old woman with liver disease and bleeding needing four units of FFP.

The control well failed so the group was uninterpretable.

The antibody screen was negative.

I issued two units of AB FFP as there was only two units there.

 

34387 – an eighty-four year-old chap in A&E also with liver disease just requiring group and save.

He grouped as O Rh(D) Negative with antibody screen positive in wells 1 & 3 so I performed antibody panels.

The enzyme panel was negative throughout.

The IAT panel was positive in cells 1, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10 corresponding with anti- s but not excluding anti-Kp(a)

 I got the green light.

11 May 2026 (Monday) - Iffy Valves

 

Looks like an iffy heart valve to me. The correct answer was:

 

“The correct answer is option 3. Revision of prosthetic valve. 

Mechanical hemolysis may results from malfunctioning prosthetic valves. Hemolysis is intravascular and may give rise to iron deficiency due to hemoglobinuria. Treatment is by correcting the valve malfunction”. 

 

Go me!!!

8 May 2026 (Friday) - BTLP-TACT Exercise

It can be no surprise to anyone that I’ve had yet another email from the nice people at BTLP-TACT whinging that I’m not doing enough exercises. So here we go again…

 

I was presented with two cases:

 

93449 – a sixty-nine year-old chap with sickle cell disease needing two units of blood

He grouped as O Rh(D) Positive with a negative antibody screen.

I selected two units of O Rh(D) Positive.

62030 – a sixty-eight year-old chap needing group and save for a fem-pop bypass.

He grouped as A Rh(D) Positive also with a negative antibody screen.

 

I got it right… I must admit I was amazed. The connection to the server dropped out several times…

7 May 2026 (Thursday) - Horiba Update

The nice people at Horiba sent their update today. I’ll say one thing for their update – its format seems to change from month to month.

This month featured Sezary syndrome, G6PD, and a quiz which was MAHA.

This is the sort of thing I want for CPD…

5 May 2026 (Tuesday) - Fritsma Factor Newsletter

And with my poor brain already overloaded so the Fritsma Factor Newsletter arrived in my in-box.

5 May 2026 (Tuesday) - Transfusion Evidence Library Update

The nice people at the Transfusion Evidence Library sent their update today. As always it boggled my poor brain. It was a lot to take in…

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

Prehospital whole blood in traumatic hemorrhage - a randomized controlled trial.
Smith, J.E., et al. (2026). The New England Journal of Medicine. [Record in progress].
PICO SUMMARY

 

 

TOP ARTICLES

Romiplostim versus placebo for chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia.
Al-Samkari, H., et al. (2026). The New England Journal of Medicine.

Impact of feeding strategies during red blood cell transfusion on cerebral and splanchnic oxygenation in preterm infants: randomized pilot study.
Aslan Tuncay, S., et al. (2026). Journal of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. [Record in progress].

Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents to reduce heart failure hospitalization: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Bunting, K.V., et al. (2026). European Journal of Heart Failure.

Substantial international variation in the cost of blood group and save and crossmatch: a systematic review.
Fabiano, G., et al. (2026). British Journal of Haematology.

Statistically significant results favored in abstracts of platelet rich plasma treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and spin analysis.
Fullano, G.D., et al. (2026). Arthroscopy.

Clinical and economic outcomes of therapeutic plasma exchange and intravenous immunoglobulin for treating adults with autoimmune neurological disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Kimber, C., et al. (2026). BMC Neurology.

Blood donation practices and behavioral intentions: a scoping review using the theory of planned behavior.
Lakew, G., et al. (2026). PLoS One.

Prophylactic haemostatic treatment to control iatrogenic bleeding during endobronchial biopsy (PROTECT study): a multicentre, randomised, single-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Li, B., et al. (2026). Chest. [Record in progress].

Artificial intelligence implementation in transfusion medicine: addressing the challenges of clinical adoption.
Maynard, S., et al. (2026). Transfusion Medicine Reviews.

Albumin replacement therapy in septic shock: a randomized clinical trial.
Sakr, Y., et al. (2026). JAMA Network Open.

 

3 May 2026 (Sunday) - Babeosis

I’ve (so far) never seen a case of babeosis, but it can only be a matter of time.
Apparently severe cases are treated with exchange transfusions
Forewarned is forearmed…