31 October 2024 (Thursday) - BTLP-TACT Exercise

Being at a loose end I did another BTLP-TACT exercise. It gave me two cases
 

37718 – a sixty-two year old woman in A&E with a CVA needing group & save

She grouped as O Rh(D) Positive with antibody screen positive in cells 1 & 3. I requested 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). The enzyme panel was negative which did rule out anti-Cw and anti-Lu(a).

98389 – an eighty-seven year old woman in out-patients also needing group & save.

Her ABO and Rh(D) groups were both indeterminate, and the antibody screen was positive in cell 2. I requested antibody panels. The IAT and enzyme panels were positive in cells 2 and 6 corresponding to anti-K .

 
I got the thumbs-up

29 October 2024 (Tuesday) - GMP e-learning

I did my Good Manufacturing Practice e-learning today. A useful little refresher…

29 October 2024 (Tuesday) - Westgard QC Update

The nice people at Westgard sent their newsletter today. It was a tad dry and a tad heavy going, but as always was one of the better sources of CPD. When you consider that much of what we do in the lab at the most basic level is measure stuff, working out just how good our measuring is must be pretty much fundamental to what we do.


28 October 2024 (Monday) - Transfusion Evidence Library Update

The nice people at the Transfusion Evidence Alert sent their update today. Some of it was a tad clinical, some a tad specialized, and (again) tranexamic acid features (it does that a lot).

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

Intravenous versus oral iron for anaemia among pregnant women in Nigeria (IVON): an open-label, randomised controlled trial.
Afolabi, B.B., et al. (2024). The Lancet. Global Health.
PICO Summary available

+++++

TOP ARTICLES

TC-325 superiority in malignant gastrointestinal bleeding - an individual patient data meta-analysis of randomized trials.
Alali, A.A., et al. (2024). The American Journal of Gastroenterology. [Record in progress].

Pomalidomide for epistaxis in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.
Al-Samkari, H., et al. (2024). The New England Journal of Medicine.

The efficacy, safety and effectiveness of hyperoncotic albumin solutions in patients with sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Bannard-Smith, J., et al. (2024). Journal of the Intensive Care Society.

Outcomes of kidney transplantation in highly HLA-sensitized patients treated with intravenous immuno-globulin, plasmapheresis and rituximab: a meta-analysis.
Chandramohan, D., et al. (2024). Life.

Balancing donor health and plasma collection: a systematic review of the impact of plasmapheresis frequency.
D'Aes, T., et al. (2024). Transfusion Medicine Reviews. [Record in progress].

An evaluation of diethylhexyl phthalate free top & bottom in-line blood collection set with a new soft housing filter.
Danilova, E., et al. (2024). Transfusion Medicine. [Record in progress].

The cost-effectiveness of preventing, diagnosing, and treating postpartum haemorrhage: a systematic review of economic evaluations.
Ginnane, J.F., et al. (2024). PLoS Medicine.

Efficacy and safety of recombinant human thrombopoietin for the treatment of chronic primary immune thrombocytopenia in children and adolescents: a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III trial.
Ma, J., et al. (2024). British Journal of Haematology. [Record in progress].

Intraoperative tranexamic acid administration in cranial meningioma surgery: a meta-analysis of prospective randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled trials.
Vychopen, M., et al. (2024). Frontiers in Oncology.

28 October 2024 (Monday) - Learning Monday

A normocytic anaemia with incredibly low ferritin? But stomach cancer… this is an anaemia due to a deficiency of both iron and vitamin B12.
 
I got it right.

27 October 2024 (Sunday) - Slide Saturday (!) Challenge

Saw this yesterday… Looks like haemoglobin C crystals to me…
Tuned in late today – it was. “The blood smear shows Hemoglobin C (HbC) crystals in a patient with hemoglobin C disease. HbC crystals form when a mutation in the beta-globin chain of hemoglobin replaces glutamic acid with lysine. This mutation makes HbC less soluble than HbA, forming hexagonal crystals (HbC crystals as seen in the peripheral smear). Individuals with one HbA gene and one HbC gene exhibit the HbC trait and are typically asymptomatic. In contrast, those with homozygous mutations for HbC have hemoglobin C disease, characterized by mild and chronic hemolytic anemia.

26 October 2024 (Saturday) - FFP & Cryoprecipitate

Following on from the last BTLP-TACT exercise, I had a little look on Google to remind myself…

 

Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) is recommended for a variety of conditions, including:

 

·        Bleeding

FFP is used to prevent or stop bleeding, or to replace coagulation factors in patients with abnormal coagulation tests. It can be used for patients with:

·        Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)

·        Bleeding associated with acute blood loss

·        Bleeding in patients with decompensated liver disease

·        Warfarin overdose with life-threatening bleeding

·         

·        Surgery

FFP is used for patients with abnormal coagulation tests who are undergoing a planned surgery or invasive procedure.

 

·        Plasma exchange

FFP is used for plasma exchange in patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) or hyperviscosity syndrome.

 

·        Factor deficiency

FFP is used to replace coagulation factors in patients with congenital or acquired factor deficiency.

 

·        Trauma

FFP is used for trauma patients requiring massive transfusion.

 

Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) is NOT recommended in the following situations: 

 

·        When there are more effective treatments

FFP is not recommended when there are more effective treatments for the condition, such as vitamin K, cryoprecipitate, or factor VIII. 

 

·        When blood volume can be replaced

FFP should not be used as a volume expander unless there is active bleeding and coagulation deficiencies.

 

·        To reverse anticoagulation

FFP should not be used to reverse anticoagulation caused by heparin, direct thrombin inhibitors, or direct factor Xa inhibitors.

 

·        For disseminated intravascular coagulation

FFP is not recommended for disseminated intravascular coagulation without bleeding.

 

·        For vitamin K deficiency

FFP should not be used to reverse vitamin K deficiency for neonates or patients in intensive care units. 

 

·        For patients with normal clotting

FFP should not be used for patients who are bleeding due to a surgical cause and who have normal clotting. 

 

·        As a circulating volume replacement

FFP should never be used as circulating volume replacement. 

 

 

Cryoprecipitate is recommended for patients who have low levels of clotting proteins, especially fibrinogen, or who are bleeding or have a risk of bleeding:

 

·        Bleeding

Cryoprecipitate can be used to prevent or control bleeding in patients whose blood doesn't clot properly.

 

·        Invasive procedures

Cryoprecipitate can be used before an invasive procedure in patients with significant hypofibrinogenemia.

 

·        Massive transfusions

Cryoprecipitate is often used when a patient needs a large number of blood components at once. 

 

·        Fibrinogen deficiency

Cryoprecipitate can be used to treat acquired fibrinogen deficiency or dysfibrinogenaemia.

 

·        Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)

Cryoprecipitate can be used to treat DIC.

 

 

Cryoprecipitate is NOT recommended for the following conditions: 

 

·        Hemophilia A

Cryoprecipitate should not be used to treat Hemophilia A unless other factor VIII preparations are not available.

 

·        Von Willebrand disease

Cryoprecipitate should not be used to treat von Willebrand disease unless the patient does not respond to DDAVP. 

 

·        Factor XIII deficiency

Cryoprecipitate is not usually given for Factor XIII deficiency because virus-inactivated concentrates of this protein are available.

 

·        Congenital afibrinogenemia or dysfibrinogenemia

Cryoprecipitate should not be used to treat these conditions.

 

·        Factor deficiencies

Cryoprecipitate should not be used to treat factor deficiencies when specific factor concentrates are available

 

 

 

26 October 2024 (Saturday) - BTLP-TACT Exercise

Time for another BTLP-TACT exercise. I was presented with two cases:
 

64755: A sixty two year old woman in the gynaecology clinic needing group and save.

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


49542: A ninety one year old chap needing group and save and four units of FFP for bleeding varices.

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

I didn’t select any FFP as it is contraindicated in cases of bleeding varices.

 
I got the green light.

24 October 2024 (Thursday) - Could Be Anything

Here’s an interesting case that came up on the Facebook Hematology Interest Group.
The blood films show large and grey platelets. There are megakaryocyte fragments. There are bizarre neutrophils with Dohle bodies and “Dohle like bodies”. There are blast cells. The red cells show many abnormalities…
 
It was interesting per se in that the slides were taken from a patient with May-Hegglin Anomaly and MDS, and is likely heading towards AMKL for FAB AML M7.
 
And it was interesting to read the comments made on some of the slides. Some were insightful. Some were utterly wrong. It was not a case of megaloblastic anaemia, nor was it a case of malaria. But there were those who would have us think it was. And many of the totally wrong guesses were presented in a very confident and forceful way.
 
A lot of people go on these Facebook pages hoping to learn. How many people believe the wrong answers?

24 October 2024 (Thursday) - Haemoglobinopathies

I’m often grumbling about how I don’t get useful CPD… here’s something of interest. A post to Facebook from a haemoglobinopathy laboratory in the middle-east with the sort of cases we rarely (if ever) see here in the UK.

I used to be quite the whizz at haemoglobinopathies back in the day…

21 October 2024 (Monday) - Learning Monday

I wasn’t sure but wondered if it was Sezary syndrome. 
It wasn’t.

"The clinical presentation, the morphology, the immunophenotype and the positive finding for HTLV-1 were all consistent with adult T-cell leukemia lymphoma. 
All the other T-cell disorders are HTLV-1 negative.  
In addition, the patient was of African descent and central and West Africa have been shown to be endemic for the virus and the associated diseases". 

Reference:  Cook LB, Phillips AA.  How I treat adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. Blood. 2021;137:459-470.
 
Well – I learned something there…

20 October 2024 (Sunday) - BTLP-TACT Exercise

Time for another BTLP-TACT exercise... it's not as though there's anything worth watching on the telly.
It gave me two cases:
 
40274 – A sixty eight year old woman needing two units of blood tomorrow for surgery.
The ABO group was indeterminate but the Rh(D) group was negative. Fortunately the antibody screen was negative. I selected two units of O Rh(D) Negative blood.
 
97135 – a sixty nine year old chap from the renal clinic needing group & save. My heart sank when I saw this one. It’s O Rh(D) positive, but with a weak D. But the BTLP-TACT does odd things, so I called it O with an indeterminate D group. Even though it wasn’t.
The antibody screen was negative… I was grateful for small mercies.
 
I got the green light. I was pleased about that. However…
The first case was implausible. It was clearly an AB patient who had received O blood in a transfusion… just like the one I’d set up for them. Such a case would be known to the blood bank.
Similarly someone of that age not having had a weak D previously identified? And given that there was why hasn’t the software got an option for weak D?
This BTLP-TACT simulator is a work in progress in which (sadly) no progress is being made.

 

19 October 2024 (Saturday) - Slide Saturday Challenge


 
The American Society of Hematology have started something new – “Slide Saturday Challenge”. I shall have to remember to tune in every Saturday…
 
Well, it’s a myeloblast with an auer rod. Mostly indicative of AML, but also seen in MDS, CMML, and other conditions.
As always just giving one cell in isolation isn’t perhaps the best way to assess morphology, but (quite frankly) this is something for nothing, and if they are going to give me the answer tomorrow (as they claim) then that is streets ahead than the schemes for which my employer pays a small fortune.

17 October 2024 (Thursday) - DIC Case Study


The nice people at Lablogatory sent a rather good case study about DIC today. You can read it by clicking here.
It was a rather good refresher…