Transfusion
-
The duration of red blood cell (RBC) storage before transfusion may alter RBC function and, therefore, influence the incidence of complications. ⋯ From the currently available published data, it is difficult to determine whether there is a relationship between the age of transfused RBCs and outcome in adult patients, except possibly in trauma patients receiving massive transfusion.
-
Preoperative autologous blood donation lowers preoperative hemoglobin (Hb) levels, and the collected blood is frequently wasted. Intraoperative red blood cell (RBC) salvage provides fresher autologous blood in proportion to surgical blood loss, making cell salvage (CS) in radical prostatectomy (RP) feasible for study. ⋯ Perioperative CS can effectively replace PAD for RP patients, offering similar avoidance of allogeneic transfusion, with greater convenience and superior postoperative Hb levels.
-
Our study characterizes blood use in the ambulatory setting by US elderly Medicare beneficiaries during 2001. As the US population ages and delivery of health care in outpatient settings is on the rise, ambulatory blood utilization is expected to increase. There is currently a lack of broad population-based studies detailing ambulatory blood utilization patterns among the US elderly. ⋯ Our study suggests that most of the ambulatory blood utilization among US elderly is for diagnoses of anemias and neoplasms rather than procedures. Our population-based study provides valuable information on ambulatory blood utilization patterns which may be used to better understand the reasons for transfusion in the ambulatory setting as blood use is expected to grow.
-
Plasma transfusion is standard therapy for urgent warfarin reversal in the United States. "Four-factor" prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC), available in Europe, has advantages over plasma therapy for warfarin reversal; however, only "three-factor" PCCs (containing relatively low Factor [F]VII) are available in the United States. ⋯ Three-factor PCC does not satisfactorily lower ST-INR due to low FVII content. Infusion of a small amount of plasma increases the likelihood of satisfactory INR lowering.
-
Blood donations collected at the National Blood Center, the Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, in 2007 were tested by nucleic acid amplification technology (NAT) using the Chiron TIGRIS/Procleix Ultrio test and the Roche cobas s 201/cobas TaqScreen multiplex (MPX) test. ⋯ The performances of the systems and tests indicated that both were acceptable for routine NAT by the National Blood Center, the Thai Red Cross Society. However, the Procleix Ultrio test appeared to be less sensitive than the cobas TaqScreen test for HBV.