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BACKGROUND: Preoperative testing in patients scheduled to undergo surgery often includes determining the ABO group and Rh type and screening for atypical alloantibodies in blood samples. AABB recommends obtaining blood samples within 3 days of transfusion. This was extended to 30 days to minimize the number of phlebotomies, avoid delays in providing blood during surgery, and decrease the laboratory workload. This study was conducted to show that extending the expiration date of the preoperative blood sample for blood typing and screening to 30 days will serve our purpose and provide better patient care. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Data were collected for all patients undergoing elective surgery with perioperative blood samples submitted to our blood bank over 31 months. Each patient completed a questionnaire to determine whether his or her samples qualified for a 30-day preoperative clot. The questionnaires were validated upon preoperative screening. A transfusion medicine physician made the final determination regarding whether the samples qualified for 30-day typing and screening. These blood samples were used for cross-matching to find compatible blood during surgery. RESULTS: A total of 12,310 preoperative blood samples were received with a request for typing and screening, 4,370 (35.5%) of which qualified for a 30-day expiration date. No significant problems were encountered with these blood samples. CONCLUSION: Extension of the preoperative clot expiration date from 3 to 30 days has improved service to our patients and their physicians and indirectly reduced the laboratory workload.

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BACKGROUND: Minor adverse reactions following transfusion of blood components to cancer patients are not uncommon. Reporting these minor reactions to the transfusion service needs a careful evaluation. The objectives of this study were to closely monitor the transfusion reactions that occurred and had not been reported to the transfusion service and to evaluate the process by which the medical and nursing staff recognized and managed these reactions. METHODS: We prepared a questionnaire with the nursing staff of a selected inpatient unit that addressed important questions, such as signs and symptoms during the transfusion, premedications given, process for physician notification, recommended action, and blood component implicated. Charts of the patients were reviewed, and the process was monitored for a 6-month period. RESULTS: A total of 58 cases were completed and analyzed. Platelet concentrates were transfused in 43 cases (74.1%), packed red blood cells in 9 cases (15.6%), and fresh frozen plasma in 6 cases (10.3%). Minor adverse reactions that were documented included chills in 11 cases (19.0%), low-grade fever in 11 cases (19.0%), hives and itching in 24 cases (41.4%), nausea and vomiting in 1 case (1.7%), and headaches and nonspecific mild pains in 11 cases (19.0%). Transfusions had been resumed in 27 cases (46.6%) and stopped completely in 13 cases (22.4%). Twenty-seven of 58 (46.6%) were first-time events. CONCLUSION: We conclude that underreporting of minor transfusion reactions, such as a febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reaction and allergic reactions, exists. To ensure safety to our cancer patients who are transfusion-dependent, we suggest that careful evaluation of any suspected transfusion reaction event should be referred to the transfusion medicine physicians who will evaluate each case and discuss it with the attending physician. This process will prevent detrimental, acute transfusion reactions.

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Transarterial therapies used for the treatment of acute nonvariceal gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage have traditionally included vasopressin infusion and embolization. However, for patients with diffuse or multifocal hemorrhage and severe refractory thrombocytopenia, these options are suboptimal because platelet counts and coagulation parameters may not be adequate to allow for the formation of a stable clot. Herein two such patients treated with direct intraarterial (IA) infusion of platelets into the vascular territory supplying the hemorrhage are described. In both patients, after IA platelet infusion, blood product requirements were immediately reduced, bleeding from the GI tract resolved by clinical and laboratory criteria, and no significant bowel ischemia was seen.

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BACKGROUND: The increasing demand for platelet products, and concern over the transfusion-associated risks of alloimmunisation and infections, have motivated a search for improved methods aimed at keeping exposure to donor antigens to a minimum. Transfusion of thrombopoietin-derived autologous platelets might provide an alternative strategy. We aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of this strategy with that of transfusion with fresh allogeneic platelets in patients with severe chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia. METHODS: 20 patients with gynaecological malignancies were treated with two doses of 1.2 microg/kg recombinant human thrombopoietin. From day 12, we aimed to collect 50 units of platelets from these patients by plateletpheresis. Harvested platelets were cryopreserved in ThromboSol and 2% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) for use in subsequent autologous transfusions. Patients then received carboplatin for up to six cycles. Patients were randomly assigned to group A (n=10), which received allogeneic fresh platelets at the first instance of severe thrombocytopenia (platelet count <15,000/microL) and then autologous cryopreserved platelets at the next, or to group B (n=10), which received first autologous and then allogeneic platelets. In subsequent cycles, all patients received autologous platelets while available. The primary endpoint was platelet count increment corrected for the number of platelets transfused and the patients' body-surface area. Analysis was by intention to treat. FINDINGS: Treatment with recombinant human thrombopoietin significantly increased platelet count (median 2.3-fold [range 1.5-3.3], p<0.0001) in all but one patient in group A. The median number of platelets collected per patient was 53 units (14-66) in two collections (one to three). There was no significant difference in the corrected platelet count increments (CCIs) between the 19 paired transfusions of cryopreserved autologous platelets and fresh allogeneic platelets (median 1-h CCI 15.7 vs 19.8, p=0.398; median 24-h CCI 13.0 vs 18.1, p=0.398). 14 of the 19 patients had a good response (1-h CCI >7.5) to their first transfusion of allogeneic platelets. By contrast, all patients had a good response to their first transfusion of autologous platelets (p=0.063). Moreover, no significant decrease in the CCIs (p=0.405) was seen over six cycles after autologous platelet transfusions (n=63). No transfusion reactions or any serious adverse event was recorded during autologous platelet transfusions. INTERPRETATION: Recombinant human thrombopoietin facilitated collection of multiple units of platelets, which could be cryopreserved and reinfused to counteract severe thrombocytopenia during multicycle chemotherapy. Transfusion of autologous cryopreserved platelets derived from recombinant human thrombopoietin can provide a viable strategy to minimise the risks of allogeneic platelet transfusions and provide a long-lasting supply of platelet support.

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