Transfusion
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Anemia is one of the most common complications of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and has been shown to be associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The impact of anemia on hospital readmission after CABG, a potential measure of delayed complications, has not been addressed. ⋯ The predischarge Hb concentration after CABG was not associated with 30-day readmissions.
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The increasing frequency of transfusion-transmitted babesiosis represents a concern for the safety of the US blood supply. The agent responsible for the disease, the intraerythrocytic parasite Babesia microti, is naturally transmitted to humans by a tick bite and is endemic in areas of the Northeast and Upper Midwest United States. In this study, we explored B. microti seroprevalence in blood donors from different areas of Minnesota (MN). ⋯ This study provides new data about B. microti seroprevalence in MN blood donors. Possibly because the targeted collection areas were mostly expected to be endemic for the parasite, the observed seroprevalence levels were higher than expected, although the geographic distribution of positive donors did not completely overlap with the distribution of reported clinical cases in MN.