Hematology
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A 38-year-old morbidly obese male (BMI > 50 kg/m(2)) presents for an elective gastric bypass surgery. He has no personal or family history of venous thromboembolism or hypercoaguability. You are asked by his primary team whether he should receive a retrievable inferior vena cava filter preoperatively for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis.
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Telomeres, repeat sequences at the ends of chromosomes, are protective chromosomal structures highly conserved from primitive organisms to humans. Telomeres inevitably shorten with every cell cycle, and telomere attrition has been hypothesized to be fundamental to normal senescence of cells, tissues, and organisms. Molecular mechanisms have evolved to maintain their length and protective function; telomerase (TERT) is a reverse transcriptase enzyme that uses an RNA molecule (TERC) as the template to elongate the 3' ends of telomeres. ⋯ Additionally, telomere defects associate with predisposition to hematologic malignancy and epithelial tumors. Telomere erosion is abnormally rapid in patients with mutations in telomerase genes but also after hematopoietic stem cell transplant, and telomeres are naturally shorter in older individuals-all conditions associated with higher rates of malignant diseases. In human tissue culture, short telomeres produce end-to-end chromosome fusion, nonreciprocal translocations, and aneuploidy.
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Securing a junior faculty position is an important early step in an academic career in hematology. Shortly thereafter one should begin to plan for eventual promotion and possible tenure. ⋯ This understanding includes the definition of and criteria for achieving tenure, the academic tracks and the policies for advancement on each track, and the process by which the institutional committee responsible for promotion and tenure conducts its activities. Learning the rules and successfully navigating the academic pathway will help ensure success by achieving the desired promotion and the self-satisfaction, prestige, and financial awards that may accompany it.
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Patients with severe thrombocytopenia are presumed to be at increased risk for bleeding, and consequently it has been standard practice for the past four decades to give allogeneic platelet transfusions to severely thrombocytopenic patients as supportive care. Platelet transfusions may be given either prophylactically to reduce the risk of bleeding, in the absence of clinical hemorrhage (prophylactic transfusions), or to control active bleeding when present (therapeutic transfusions). While no one would argue with the need for platelet transfusions in the face of severe bleeding, important questions remain about what constitutes clinically significant bleeding and whether a strategy of prophylactic platelet transfusions is effective in reducing the risk of bleeding in clinically stable patients. ⋯ At least two RCTs evaluating the relative value of prophylactic versus therapeutic platelet transfusions have been initiated in thrombocytopenic patients with hematological malignancies. One such study, known as the TOPPS (Trial of Prophylactic Platelets Study) study, is currently underway in the U. K.
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Unexpectedly elevated INR values are commonly encountered in clinical practice. In the absence of bleeding, such values may be treated with either simple warfarin withdrawal or the administration of low doses of oral vitamin K. Oral vitamin K will more rapidly return the INR to the therapeutic reference interval; however, its impact on bleeding is unknown. ⋯ Coagulation factor replacement is required given the need to urgently correct the INR; however, vitamin K should not be forgotten since it is required to antagonize the effect of warfarin, preventing "rebound" anticoagulation after transfused coagulation factors are consumed. This paper will review the evidence supporting various treatment modalities and will provide suggestions for treatment. Future advances in this area will likely focus on evaluations of the relative merits of FFP and PCCs.