2 June 2026 (Tuesday) - BTLP-TACT Exercise

I’m always getting prompts to do more BTLP-TACT exercises, I’ve walked the dogs, and it is raining outside anyway…
 
I was given two cases:
 

33586 – a thirty-year-old woman with appendicitis needing group and save.

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

 

15253 – an eight-one-year-old woman needing four units of blood for a pancreatectomy.

She grouped as B Rh(D) Positive with an antibody screen positive in cells 2 & 3.

I performed antibody panels.

The enzyme and IAT panels were positive in cells 1, 3, 4, 6 & 7 corresponding with anti Jk(a) but not excluding anti-Cw.

I scared up four units of various compatible ABO and RH groups that were Jk(a) Negative

 
I got it wrong…
Anti-Cw *could* have been excluded from the screening panel. Dur !!! 
But if that was the only hiccup I’m content. Better to err on the side of caution, eh?

1 June 2026 (Monday) - VEXAS Syndrome

I saw a diagnosis today: VEXAS syndrome. A new one on me – it is an adult-onset, severe autoinflammatory and blood disorder caused by a random, acquired mutation in the UBA1 gene. It primarily affects men over fifty. The name is an acronym outlining its core characteristics:

 

·  Vacuoles in bone marrow cells

·  E1 enzyme malfunction

·  X-linked genetic origin

·  Autoinflammation (immune system attacking healthy tissue)

·  Somatic mutation (not inherited)

 

Here’s a link about it.