by Laurie J. Sutor, MD, MBA The search for a viable alternative to banked human blood for transfusion has been ongoing for nearly 80 years. The ideal blood substitute would be cheaper, stored at room temperature, have a long shelf life, cause no adverse reactions, and be in plentiful supply. We would not have to worry
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Plasma is the liquid part of the blood, used for treating bleeding and other disorders. Donated plasma may go directly to hospitals after testing and labeling at the blood center. This is the type of plasma donation in which Carter BloodCare participates.  Other than having an anti-clotting agent added, the plasma is not altered in
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by William Crews, MD There are many FDA required quality control measurements that must be met to ensure the safety, purity, and potency of blood components before they can be labeled and made ready for patient use. One of the required measurements for every apheresis platelet is calculation of the platelet yield (volume x platelet
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by Laurie J. Sutor, MD, MBA A new version of the AABB Standards for Blood Banks and Transfusion Services is scheduled to go into effect on April 1, 2020. The draft version has been circulated for member comments this summer. The following article summarizes what I think are the most important changes for hospital blood banks.
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by Laurie J. Sutor, MD, MBA Our practice for decades has been to store platelet components at 20 to 24ºC (“room temperature”). This convention likely arose from the finding that platelets stored at refrigerator temperatures have significantly shorter lifespans in circulation after transfusion.   However, there are clearly disadvantages of room temperature storage of platelet components:
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by Geeta Paranjape, MD Cellular therapy is a rapidly progressing field with new clinical trials for novel products being added all the time.   Autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants have been used for many hematological malignancies as treatment. The new kid on the block is CAR T-cell (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T) therapy. Development of
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by Laurie J. Sutor, MD, MBA Area hospitals and the community blood center have become aware of new sections of the Texas Administrative Code and the Health and Safety Code that, in their standard-setting for maternal care for the state, are having significant effects on blood banks. The legislation was first passed in 2013 and
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by Geeta Paranjape, MD Background The reported rates of septic transfusion reactions from platelets vary from 1/100,000 by passive surveillance to 1/10,000 by active surveillance when testing with primary culture alone. Surveillance data on platelets stored up to five days have shown that the majority of platelet transfusion-related septic reactions and associated fatalities have occurred with
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by Laurie J Sutor, MD, MBA When to transfuse. Consensus recommendations support transfusion for the prevention and treatment of stroke in high-risk patients. There is also some evidence that transfusion is helpful in patients to treat acute chest syndrome and for splenic sequestration with anemia. However, transfusion has not shown to be helpful routinely for treatment
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