The phenotypic expression of sickle cell anaemia varies greatly among patients and longitudinally in the same patient. It influences all aspects of the life of affected individuals including social interactions, intimate relationships, family relations, peer interactions, education, employment, spirituality and religiosity. The clinical manifestations of sickle cell anaemia are protean ...

Patients with chronic anaemia need repeated blood transfusions, which eventually lead to iron overload. The excess iron from blood transfusions is deposited in the reticuloendothelial system and in the parenchymal cells of the liver, spleen and other organs. Cellular damage is likely to occur when iron overload in the liver ...

Blood infectivity in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) is reviewed with special emphasis on transmission by blood transfusion in human beings. It is concluded that transmission by transfusion seems biologically plausible as regards variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (vCJD), albeit present knowledge suggests that it is extremely uncommon. Precautionary measures against the putative ...

The most clinically important blood group systems in transfusion medicine, excluding the ABO system, are the RH, Kell, and Kidd systems. Alloantibodies to antigens of these systems may be produced following blood transfusion or during pregnancy and can result in serious hemolytic transfusion reactions and hemolytic disease of the newborn. ...

Although preterm infants often require transfusions of red blood cells for anemia of prematurity, the optimal volume of blood to be transfused has not been established. Infants with birth weights between 500 and 1,500 g were randomly assigned to receive 10 or 20 mL/kg red blood cells. Infants with transfusions ...

A small percentage of the population suffers from blood-injection-injury phobia. These individuals can have vasodepressor syncope related to episodes when their phobia is triggered by a stimulus such as the sight of blood or receiving an injection. A case is presented in which a commercial aviator had a vasodepressor syncopal ...

Neonatal brucellosis following blood transfusion has not previously been reported. A premature male infant born at 24 weeks gestation developed low grade fever and decreased activity and showed poor weight gain at 45 weeks post-menstrual age. Blood culture grew Brucella melitensis and the brucella antibody titre was positive. He received ...

Aspergillus pancarditis is a rare infection, and it has rarely been reported after blood transfusion. In this report, we describe a fatal case of Aspergillus pancarditis in a patient who received antibiotics and corticoids after an incompatible blood transfusion intended to be an autologous blood transfusion. A 64-year-old man suffering ...

Transfusion data combined with data automatically recorded in hospital databases provides an outstanding tool for blood utilization reporting. When the reporting is performed with an online analytical processing (OLAP) tool, real time reporting can be provided to blood subscribers. When this data is combined with a common patient classification system, ...

BACKGROUND: Understanding propofol distribution in blood is important for optimizing drug usage during TIVA. We studied changes in the propofol concentration in plasma and formed blood elements separated from blood samples taken before and after transfusion of blood cells to patients during TIVA with propofol. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twelve patients ...

OBJECTIVE: Blood transfusion induces polymorphonuclear leukocyte elastase (PMNE) and interleukin 6 (IL-6). IL-6 would activate neutrophils to release PMNE. Ulinastatin, a protease inhibitor, inhibits PMNE release by blood transfusion. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the effects of ulinastatin on PMNE release by blood transfusion come through ...

BACKGROUND: Blood transfusion is a universally used, life-saving medical intervention. However, there are increasing concerns among patients about blood safety. This study investigates the effect of message framing, a means of presenting information, on confidence in blood transfusion safety. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The same factual information regarding the safety ...

OBJECTIVE: Therapy for twin-twin transfusion syndrome includes amnioreduction, septostomy, and laser ablation, but there is no accepted standard of care. Mechanisms for the reported improvement in survival are incompletely understood. We sought to model the mechanisms and predict the response of varying severities of twin-twin transfusion syndrome and placental angioarchitectures ...

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with red blood cell (RBC) abnormalities and moderate to severe anemia, and blood transfusion is naturally a mainstay of treatment. However, transfusion therapy for SCD may incur special and distinctive adverse effects. Thus, it is important to understand the indications for and goals of ...

INTRODUCTION: Recent studies have highlighted the role of increased internal anal sphincter pressure and decreased anodermal blood flow in the pathogenesis of chronic anal fissures. The duration of the effect of topical 0.2% glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) ointment on anodermal blood flow in fissure and normal areas was investigated in patients ...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether clinicians in Malawi could use clinical judgement alone to administer blood transfusions in accordance with guidelines. Clinicians at a district hospital did not use the Lovibond Comparator haemoglobin results provided by their laboratory as they felt them to be unreliable, preferring ...

Our understanding of submarine volcanic eruptions has improved substantially in the past decade owing to the recent ability to remotely detect such events and to then respond rapidly with synoptic surveys and sampling at the eruption site. But these data are necessarily limited to observations after the event. In contrast, ...

We describe a case of porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) induced by blood transfusion and oral iron supplementation in an 80-year-old white woman. The patient experienced acute blood loss from 2 duodenal ulcers 2 months prior to presentation. During her hospitalization for the gastrointestinal bleed, her anemia was treated with blood ...

Despite the conventional wisdom that blood transfusion is of use in acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage, this review proposes that there is considerable doubt about the optimal timing and intensity of transfusion of blood and crystalloids in this setting. It advocates the need for controlled trials to identify the most appropriate ...

Regulations currently prohibit co-administration (through the same line) of red blood cell transfusions with continuous morphine infusions for pain management, resulting in additional intravenous access or interrupted analgesic therapy in seriously ill children. Packed cells that had been in contact with morphine 0.1 or 1.0 mg/mL and infused through a ...

PURPOSE: Critically ill neonates are frequently transfused with packed red cells. Some of these transfused neonates also need chromosome analysis. There is a long-standing tradition in pediatrics of not performing chromosome analysis after transfusion. We wished to determine whether transfusion with packed red cells affect the cytogenetic results in neonates. ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Transfusion errors always remain under-reported owing to a lack of awareness about transfusion-related adverse events among the hospital staff and an inadequate feedback system in most of the transfusion centres. This article reports the results obtained from a study carried out to investigate the sources and types ...

There are six steps to a safe blood transfusion service. The primary steps are: (i) a national policy for the blood transfusion service with time-bound programmes; (ii) a centrally coordinated, structured and organized blood transfusion service for a country/state under a defined authority; and (iii) a blood transfusion service based ...

Blood transfusion is considered safe when the infused blood is tested using state of the art viral assays developed over the past several decades. Only rarely are known viruses like HIV and hepatitis C transmitted by transfusion when blood donors are screened using these sensitive laboratory tests. However, there are ...

The development of new technologies leads to the discovery of new viruses. For each of these new infectious agents, their possible relevance to blood transfusion needs to be assessed. The questions to be answered are transmissibility by transfusion, pathogenicity, prevalence in blood donors, persistence, and the availability of screening assays. ...

Serious adverse effects of transfusion may be immunologically or non-immunologically mediated. Currently, bacterial contamination of blood products, particularly platelets, is one of the most significant causes of transfusion-related morbidity and mortality. Septic transfusion reactions can present with clinical symptoms similar to immune-mediated hemolytic transfusion reactions and transfusion-related acute lung injury. ...

BACKGROUND: RBC transfusion is widely advocated in the management of sickle cell anemia (SCA), but it carries potentially serious risks, especially in the setting of chronic transfusion. The Jamaican Sickle Cell Clinic is conservative in its use of transfusion, and this experience is presented to allow comparison with other centers ...

CONTEXT: Diagrams of the flow of participants through a clinical trial are recommended in the Consolidated Standards for Reporting of Trials (CONSORT) statement, but it is unclear whether such flow diagrams improve the quality of trial reports. OBJECTIVE: To examine the information contributed by flow diagrams and the completeness of ...

A patient with von Willebrand's disease had recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding from angiodysplasia, with inadequate response to von Willebrand factor substitution, medical and endoscopic treatment, and resection of affected bowel. Frequent blood transfusions were required. She started home treatment with recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) at the onset of bleeding, in ...

BACKGROUND: The role of blood transfusions and iron intake in the pathogenesis or retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is controversial. AIM: To evaluate the influence of packed red cell (PRC) transfusions and iron intake on ROP incidence. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SUBJECTS: Forty-five preterm infants with birthweight <1250 g were ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of different strategies of blood volume restitution in the outcome of portal hypertension-related bleeding in anesthetized cirrhotic rats. Gastrointestinal hemorrhage was induced by sectioning a first order branch of the ileocolic vein in 38 cirrhotic rats (common bile duct ligation ...

The Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT) haemovigilance scheme for the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland has clearly indicated that there are avoidable risks to which recipients of blood transfusion are exposed. Sometimes errors in practice have led to serious and even fatal consequences, particularly when a haemolytic response occurs ...

Pediatricians in the hospital setting must frequently treat children who require massive transfusion (MT) in a variety of clinical situations ranging from major trauma to neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. After identifying the need for massive transfusion, the pediatrician must select the appropriate blood components. Different blood components have specific temperature, preservative, and ...

The advent of AIDS has raised a concern regarding transfusion transmitted diseases. Blood transfusion is safer than ever before through continued improvements in safe donor recruitment, screening of donors, testing of donated blood and appropriate clinical use of blood. The risk of residual infections is further reduced through inactivation of ...

OBJECTIVES: To obtain further information the incidence of injuries and playing positions affected in club rugby in Scotland. METHODS: Routine reports of injury (permanent) and blood (temporary) replacements occurring in competitive club rugby matches by referees to the Scottish Rugby Union during seasons 1990-1991 to 1996-1997 were analysed. RESULTS: A ...

Blood components are indicated in a wide variety of disease states. Although most transfusion therapies are administered uneventfully, there are a number of potential adverse transfusion reactions, some of which can assume serious dimensions. These reactions could occur during or even days after a transfusion. A brief description of the ...

BACKGROUND: Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a well-characterized, serious complication of blood component therapy in hospitalized patients. The signs and symptoms are often attributed to other clinical aspects of a patient's condition, and therefore TRALI may go unrecognized. IVIG is a pooled plasma derivative commonly used in the outpatient ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the understanding of and attitudes toward risks of blood transfusions among transfusion recipients in Karachi. METHODS: One hundred forty-one transfusion recipients from 13 major Karachi hospitals were interviewed. Indications for transfusion were obtained by reviewing the patients' medical records. RESULTS: The most common indications for transfusion were ...

We report a case of transfusion-mediated Yersinia enterocolitica septicemia in a 43-y-old woman with homozygous beta-thalassemia. Two h after transfusion of 3 units of red blood cells the patient suffered high-grade fever and shaking chills. Y. enterocolitica serotype O3 grew in blood cultures. Prolonged treatment with i.v. ceftriaxone plus ciprofloxacin ...

Rushton et al (1998 Current Biology 8 1191 - 1194) recently showed that walkers wearing displacing prisms follow curved trajectories determined by the perceived direction of their target. This suggests that optic flow is not important in guidance, since flow cues are unaffected by the prism and should allow a ...

Accurate phenotyping of red blood cells (RBCs) can be difficult in transfusion-dependent patients such as those with thalassemia and sickle cell anemia because of the presence of previously transfused RBCs in the patient's circulation. Recently, the molecular basis associated with the expression of many blood group antigens was established. This ...

The Japanese Red Cross analysed the results of questionnaires sent in 1993 regarding post-transfusion graft-vs.-host disease (PT-GVHD) from hospitals; the majority of patients with PT-GVHD in 1993 were transfused for cardiovascular or cancer surgery, and about 10 patients had died yearly from PT-GVHD in the following few years. The Japan ...

Despite our improved understanding of the pathophysiology of severe malaria, major changes in clinical management have not been forthcoming. However, in the case of life-threatening severe malarial anaemia, preliminary evidence suggests that changes in current clinical practice rather than the introduction of novel interventions may improve child survival. This review ...

It is common practice to type and screen the blood before performing a percutaneous liver biopsy. Many practitioners think that this is unnecessary but do not have a reason to change their practice. The requirements for transfusion after biopsy were determined in a consecutive sample of cases at a tertiary ...

In 1996, we prospectively audited peri-operative transfusion practice in elective surgical patients over a 3-month period. Two-unit transfusions represented 60% of all transfusions. Haemoglobin was measured infrequently prior to transfusion and the main 'trigger' for transfusion was an estimated blood loss in excess of 500 ml. Transfusion guidelines that required ...

Transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD) is usually a fatal outcome of blood transfusion therapy, caused by viable leucocytes contained in the donor blood. Most cases of TA-GVHD occur when less than 4-d-old blood is transfused. We therefore examined the molecular changes that occur during storage that may account for the paucity ...

We have shown that it is possible to transmit bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to a sheep by transfusion with whole blood taken from another sheep during the symptom-free phase of an experimental BSE infection. BSE and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) In human beings are caused by the same infectious agent, ...

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess whether there is a difference between hydropic and nonhydropic fetuses in the rate of fall of hemoglobin (Hb) following intravascular transfusions. METHODS: Eighty-three intravascular transfusions in 34 fetuses were analyzed. The pretransfusion and posttransfusion Hb values, the gestational age, the volume of blood transfused, the ...

PURPOSE: To determine free hemoglobin concentration in patients who received massive blood transfusion during emergency surgery for trauma with consideration of the storage of the transfused blood. METHODS: Fifteen patients undergoing emergency surgery for multiple trauma and who received blood transfusion of more than 5000 mL were studied. Transfusion of ...

Recombinant technology in transfusion medicine has really only just begun to have large-scale impact. The preparation of blood products, determination of blood group phenotype, detection of blood group specific antibodies does not currently employ DNA-based methods for their preparation or detection. The detection of bloodborne viruses, production of blood grouping ...