Transfusion
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Blood transfusion is the most common procedure performed in American hospitals, and transfusions are commonly ordered by physicians without formal training in transfusion medicine. Several transfusion medicine curricula have been proposed, including those developed through the Transfusion Medicine Academic Awards (TMAA). To our knowledge, no comprehensive study has assessed how transfusion medicine is incorporated into undergraduate medical education. ⋯ Transfusion medicine content in American undergraduate medical education is variable and the influence of the TMAA program on contemporary medical school curricula is questionable. Future efforts in this area should focus on standardizing and improving undergraduate medical education in transfusion medicine.
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Comparative Study
Characterization of blood components separated from donated whole blood after an overnight holding at room temperature with the buffy coat method.
With buffy coat (BC) processing of whole blood (WB) donations, increase in WB storage time to facilitate overnight holding before the separation of blood components would be a logistically attractive development. This study undertakes a comparative in vitro characterization of blood components prepared from WB samples that were either processed within 8 hours or stored overnight at room temperature before processing by the BC method. ⋯ These data suggest that blood components (RBCs, pooled PCs, and FP) separated from WB that has been stored overnight at room temperature by the BC method are of acceptable quality.
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Iron store deficiency is a common side effect of whole blood donation. Early recognition and reversal of excessive iron loss may avoid symptomatic iron store depletion in blood donors and reduce volunteer loss due to iron deficiency (ID) anemia. ⋯ Systematic serum ferritin measurements allowed an optimized management of ID in our donors and efficacious prevention of ID anemia.
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Obstetric hemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality worldwide. Intraoperative blood salvage is common practice in many surgical specialties but its safety in obstetrics is questioned for concerns on the risks of contamination of recovered blood with amniotic fluid (AF) and of maternal-fetal alloimmunization. However, the role of cell salvage as a blood-saving measure in obstetrics is progressively acquiring relevance thanks to the growing body of evidence regarding its quality and safety coming from over 800 documented procedures and more than 400 patients transfused with saved blood. ⋯ The contamination of the SB by fetal Rh-mismatched red blood cells (RBCs) can be dealt with using RhIG; ABO incompatibility tends to be a minor problem since ABO antigens are not fully developed at birth. Antibodies can be formed against other fetal RBC antigens, but it should also be noted that the risk of alloimmunization of the mother from allogeneic transfusion is probably even greater. Therefore, intraoperative cell salvage in obstetrics should be considered in patients at high risk for hemorrhage or in cases where allogeneic blood transfusion is difficult or impossible.