by W. Crews, M.D., Medical Director of Laboratory Services, Carter BloodCare Molecular genotyping for red blood cell (RBC) antigens has become routinely used for some blood donors and certain patient populations (patients with hemoglobinopathies, recently transfused patients, patients with warm autoantibodies or multiple alloantibodies, for example). In contrast, molecular RHD genotyping for patients with a known
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by W. Crews, M.D., Medical Director of Laboratory Services, Carter BloodCare When DARZALEX® (daratumumab or DARA) was approved by the FDA in November 2015, the transfusion service/blood banking community was quickly front and center with the newest monoclonal antibody treatment. Shortly after receiving FDA approval, it was discovered that DARA caused interference with the antibody screen
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by G. Paranjape, M.D., Medical Director of Clinical Services, Carter BloodCare Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the Flaviviridae group and has been known to cause infection since 1953. It is transmitted to humans primarily by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, but it may also be transmitted by the Aedes albopictus mosquito. Cases of intrauterine, perinatal,
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by T. Nishimoto, M.D., Medical Director of Clinical Apheresis Services, Carter BloodCare The American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) released the Seventh Edition of the Guidelines on the Use of Therapeutic Apheresis in Clinical Practice in the Journal of Clinical Apheresis (JCA) in June 2016. The JCA Seventh Edition still contains the ASFA categories and grading system
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by L. Sutor, M.D., Vice President of Medical and Technical Services, Carter BloodCare Carter BloodCare is now stocking OctaplasTM as an alternative plasma product. OctaplasTM is a pooled, solvent/detergent-treated plasma product made from 630 to 1520 donors of the same blood type. The FDA has approved it for use in patients with acquired deficiency of multiple
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by G. Paranjape, M.D. Medical Director of Clinical Services, Carter BloodCare Liquid plasma is a plasma product that is never frozen, has an expiration date of 26 days, and is stored at 1-6 0C. Per the Circular of Information, it is indicated for initial treatment of patients undergoing massive transfusion because of life-threatening trauma/hemorrhage and
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by L. Sutor, M.D., Vice President of Medical and Technical Services, Carter BloodCare The challenge continues for us to meet community needs for group O Rh-negative red blood cells (RBCs), despite Carter BloodCare’s collecting group O blood at increasing efficiency (see graph). Demand continues to outpace supply. Our individual hospitals have requested up to 28 percent
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by G. Paranjape, M.D., Medical Director of Clinical Services, Carter BloodCare Current FDA regulations per the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR) enacted in May of 2016, require that if hospitals have a positive bacterial culture on a platelet component or a patient after transfusion, they must attempt to identify the organism and notify the blood
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Dr. Karen Roush enjoys the little details of science that, she admits, can make some people’s eyes glaze over – a convenient coincidence for the person responsible for analyzing complex blood transfusion issues down to the molecular level. Dr. Roush is intimately involved with all aspects of transfusion medicine services at Methodist Dallas, and for
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Balance and perspective are crucial to the daily, sometimes hourly, decisions Dr. Pamela Jensen makes as medical director of Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas hospital’s blood bank. From proficiency testing and quality control to accreditation maintenance, Dr. Jensen oversees all blood banking services for the Dallas campus. “We have several large departments which depend on blood,
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