20 January 2020 (Monday) - BBTS Newsletter

The BBTS sent their quarterly journal today. You can read the abstracts by clicking here. Odd antigen frequencies, better use of blood products, weak D phenotypes…

It’s odd – I get the magazine delivered to my front door; after a few weeks my wife throws it away unopened. But I read the e-format right away. Much the same way that I rarely read a paper book any more, but my Kindle app runs at warp speed.

16 January 2020 (Thursday) - Oncologist Newsletter

The nice people at “The Oncologist” sent their newsletter today. You can read it by clicking here.

As always none of it is directly relevant to what I do on a daily basis, but as background reading it can’t be bettered.

14 January 2020 (Tuesday) - Kawasaki's Disease

Look at that ESR result!!!

M6613437            LANNISTER Tyrion         20.07.18  M   Specimen R,20.3000634.Z      Clin dets  kawasakis disease Collected 14.01.20   NK      A.Diag  ESR        + >170         |Monos      + 1.77 Hb         - 96           |Eosin      - 0.01 WBC        + 21.81        |Baso         0.07 Plts         396          |MPV          8.9 Hct        - 0.286        |PCT          0.35 RBC        - 3.57         |NRBC         0.00 MCV          80.1         |RETP         2.6 MCH          26.9         |RETA         92.80 MCHC         336          |IRF          14.7 Neuts      + 13.18        | Lymphs       6.78         | ESR        Result confirmed.            Suggest repeat to confirm, if required.

And then look at the diagnosis. I’d heard of Kawasaki’s disease, but I couldn’t remember much about it. I realise that science frowns on Wikipedia, but often the articles there are succinct and to the point. You can see the wiki-article on Kawasaki’s disease by clicking here.

The lymphocyte count and the ESR results both fit the diagnosis…