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....
I had one case – a forty-one year-old woman in theatre needing four units for a PPH.She grouped as O Rh(D) Positive with a negative antibody screen.I selected four units of O Rh(D) Positive K Negative CMV Negative
ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
TOP ARTICLES
A scoping review of reversible cerebral encephalopathy syndromes following blood transfusion in the settings of anemia and clinical recommendations
Ali HT, Nouh Y, Obadi A, Habib I, Abutawahina K, et al. Neurol Sci. 2026 Sep 17;47(10).
Intravenous Immunoglobulin Add-On in Newly Diagnosed Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Özkaynar P, Evers S, Kamperman R, Smithuis F, Eftimov F, et al. JAMA Neurol. 2026 Sep 14.
Low-dose baricitinib plus danazol in primary immune thrombocytopenia: a randomized, controlled phase 2 trial.
Zhao, P., et al. (2026). Nature Communications.
AINAR trial: A randomized controlled trial to assess the usefulness of artificial intelligence-based game to conquer needle fear in blood donors
Meher R, Patidar GK. Transfus Clin Biol. 2026 Sep 7.
Efficacy and safety of thalidomide (1 vs 2 mg/kg/d) in transfusion-dependent thalassemia: A Non-Inferiority Trial
Kakkar S, Mahajan A, Sharma RA, Radhakrishnan N, Manglani M, et al. Blood Adv. 2026 Sep 1.
Intravenous ferric carboxymaltose and exercise capacity in iron-deficient kidney transplant recipients: a randomised, placebo-controlled trial in the Netherlands
Vinke JSJ, Eisenga MF, van der Vaart A, van Lieshout CJ, Dolmans HWGM, et al. EClinicalMedicine. 2026 Sep 1;99:104169.
Minimizing blood sampling in preterm infants
Nissimov S, Sibrecht G, Weerasekara I, Bartocci M, Bruschettini M, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2026 Aug 26;8(8).
A Phase IIa, Double Blind, Randomized, Placebo Controlled, Parallel, Multicentre, Proof-of-Concept Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Desidustat Oral Tablet for Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease
Desai M, Solanki B, Hathila M, Asati V, Shah S, et al. Eur J Haematol. 2026 Aug 25.
Continuation versus discontinuation of intravenous oxytocin in the active phase of labour
Boie S, Uldbjerg N, Bor P, Thornton JG, Le Ray C, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2026 Aug 25;8(8).
05898 – a sixty-one year-old chap in out-patients needing a pre-operative group and save.His ABO group was uninterpretable as there was no reaction in anything. One for NHSBT. His Rh(D) group was negative.His antibody screen was negative.72428 – a fifty-two year-old chap also needing group and save following over-anticoagulation.He grouped as A Rh(D) Positive and also had a negative antibody screen.
2606BF1 looked unremarkable to me, and the expert opinion couldn’t find anything amiss with it either.In 2606 BF2 I saw Macrocytosis, hypersegmented neutrophils, and thrombocytopenia. This was what the expert opinion found, but didn’t give any diagnosis
Neut 53% (43 – 63)Lymph 40% (27 – 47)Mono 5% (3 – 7)Eos 2% (0.7 – 1.4)Baso 0% (0 – 1.4)
71741 – a child of less than two years of age with coffee ground vomit needing group and saveHe grouped as A Rh(D) Negative with a negative antibody screen.16621 – a ninety-four year-old chap needing four units of blood for a GI bleed.He grouped as O Rh(D) Positive also with a negative antibody screen.I selected four units of O Rh(D) Positive blood.
