1 November 2018 (Thursday) - Yet More Failure

Fuelled with resentment at having failed the BTLP exercise I did another…

The first case had an indeterminate ABO group. I performed an antibody screen to rule out an anti-M or anti-P₁ or something like that. It didn’t rule out anything so “I said what I saw” and got that right.

The second case was a female requiring four units of blood as a “just in case” for surgery. She grouped as A Pos with negative antibody screen and I selected the four freshest (as unlikely to be used) K Neg A Pos units. This was wrong because "The issued component does not meet specific requirements for this patient"

I wish I knew why it didn’t…

I November 2018 (Thursday) - Another Failure

I did another BTLP TACT exercise today. In the exercise the patient was O Pos with a positive antibody screen which I determined to be due to anti Jk^b.

I got that right.

However from the given panel I couldn't rule out Lu^a or Kp^a which the software said was wrong.

I disagree. I wish I had the opportunity to discuss why I was wrong. If indeed I was…

31 October 2018 (Wednesday) - Transfusion News email

Drugs to be used for cases of cold agglutinins, a new analyser on the market, more antigen matching… this instalment of “Transfusion News” is one of the more gripping ones…

Eculizumab for Treating Cold Agglutinin Disease

October 24, 2018 Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is a rare autoimmune disease caused by antibodies directed against red blood cell antigens, making them agglutinate at colder temperatures and activate complement. Current treatments for CAD are limited and include avoiding cold temperatures, inhibiting B-cell production of autoantibodies, and providing transfusions to combat hemolysis. Researchers in Germany [Read More]

Bio-Rad Receives U.S. FDA Clearance for the IH-Reader 24, Expanding the Company’s Offering for the Blood Typing Market

A combination centrifuge and reader, the IH-Reader 24 automatically reads and transfers blood type and antibody screening results to Bio-Rad’s IH-Com patient data management software, offering improved efficiencies for transfusion medicine laboratories that use manual methods to test blood. [Click for More]

Antigen Matching for Future Moms with Meghan Delaney

October 29, 2018 | BBGuy Podcast A 25-year-old, A negative female needs blood. She will receive RhD-negative RBCs, of course, but what about antigen matching for Kell, or for other Rh antigens? Meghan Delaney explains the “AMIGO Study.” [Listen Now]

Sexually Transmitted Disease Rates among Reinstated MSM Donors

October 17, 2018 In December 2016, the American Red Cross began collecting blood from men who have sex with men (MSM) in line with the FDA’s newly changed deferral policy, which allows donations from MSM with no sexual activity with men in the prior 12 months. At the AABB Annual Meeting in Boston [Read More]

26 October 2018 (Friday) - Acronyms

The nice people at Digital Pathology sent their update today. I couldn’t be arsed with it.

Unprofessional? Possibly. It started off with a headline “THE IMPACT OF NGS ON WSI“ and in my mind I had already given up. Why can’t these people write in comprehensible English rather than in unintelligible acronyms?

This is a failing on my part I need to address…

24 October 2018 (Wednesday) - T.A.M.

The nice people at Lablogatory sent a case study today. A raised white cell count in a baby isn’t *that* uncommon… I’d never heard of the phrase “transient abnormal myelopoiesis” before.

24 October 2018 (Wednesday) - What Do You Do ?

This question appeared on the Facebook “Blood Bank Interest Group” page today:

“For those female patients that are Rh negative and have a positive antibody identification due to passive D (Rhogam administration during pregnancy), what is your policy for crossmatching compatible RBC units? Do you do immediate spin/GEL/AHG? And do you always set up a unit on that patient to have ready to go during their current hospital stay or wait until a unit is ordered? Thank you for your input!”

An interesting discussion ensued. Some people really do have a blanket policy on having two units crossmatched on everyone with a blood group antibody purely because they have got a blood group antibody…

21 October 2018 (Sunday) - Feeling a Bit Tired ?

An interesting case study. Sometimes we get so bogged down with big words and long names for clinical conditions that we tend to look down on the diagnosis of “tired all the time” or “unwell”.

Here’s a case of a chap who really did turn up at the GP saying he felt worn out…