How does transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease compare to hematopoietic cell transplantation-associated graft-versus-host disease?

Transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD) is a rare life-threatening complication of blood transfusion caused by donor T cells that escape rejection by the recipient immune system. These donor T cells drive recipient tissue damage in response to host antigens. On the other hand, GVHD occurring after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT-GVHD) is also caused by donor T cells, but its pathophysiology is more complex and differs due to the effects of tissue damage caused by pre?HCT conditioning and profound immunosuppression. Both TA-GVHD and HCT-GVHD can be fatal; however, mortality is higher with TA-GVHD due to the paucity of treatment options. Here, we compare and summarize the presentation, diagnosis, pathophysiology, prevention, and treatment of TA-GVHD and HCT-GVHD.     

Are we missing reverse TRALI? – A real world experience from a tertiary care oncology centre in India

Transfusion related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a rare but potentially fatal pulmonary complication of transfusion that presents as acute hypoxemia and non-cardiogenic pulmonary oedema, developing during or within six hours of transfusion. Majority of the cases reported are due to transfusion of plasma rich blood components containing antibodies to human leukocyte antigen (anti-HLA) or human neutrophil antigen (anti-HNA). Rarely, anti-HLA or anti-HNA in recipients against transfused donor leukocyte antigens, cause TRALI by a reverse mechanism. Herein, we report three cases of suspected TRALI following transfusions of buffy coat derived granulocytes and peripheral blood stem cells. Three patients with hematological malignancies developed pulmonary symptoms after transfusions of leukocyte rich blood components. All cases showed findings of bilateral pulmonary infiltrates at chest radiography and patients were managed accordingly; however, all three expired within seven days of transfusion due to progressive respiratory deterioration. The patients were transfusion dependent for a long time and had received multiple non-leukoreduced blood components in the past. Clinical findings in all three cases indicate the possibility of reverse TRALI. Although, patients’ anti-HLA or anti-HNA antibodies concordance with donors’ cognate antigens (HLA and HNA) was not confirmed; yet these three cases suggest that reverse pathogenesis of TRALI is not as infrequent as reported in the literature. However, reverse TRALI has not been confirmed as the presence and nature of antibodies in the transfused recipient were not investigated due to the non availability of immunodiagnostic tests in India.     

Surgical blood ordering schedule for better inventory management: An experience from a tertiary care transfusion center

BackgroundOverordering of blood has been a challenge faced by the blood bank staff. The present study addresses the role of maximum surgical blood ordering schedule (MSBOS) in optimizing the blood inventory management.MethodsThe blood requests for elective surgical procedures from various surgical departments were reviewed to constitute MSBOS. Transfusion profile was assessed using crossmatch to transfused units (C/T) ratio, transfusion probability (TP), and transfusion index (TI). A cutoff of 0.3 and 5% value of TI and TP, respectively, was considered to decide on the type of crossmatch. The efficacy of MSBOS implementation has been determined prospectively by unpaired t test using SPSS software, version 20 (IBM, USA).ResultsA total of 2674 patients were studied. Overall red cell usage rate was 15%. The comprehensive C/T ratio was 4.57. The C/T ratios for the various departments ranged from 1 to 8.5 (adjusted C/T ratio). Highest C/T ratio was observed for surgical procedures performed in the specialties of otorhinolaryngology and urology. A C/T ratio greater than 5 was noted in 30.4% of different types of surgical procedures. Of the 176 different types of elective surgical procedures studied, type and screen protocol was applicable for 75.5% (133) of the procedures. After implementation of MSBOS, the number of crossmatches reduced by 2152 and total working time saved in our laboratory is close to 75,320 man hours.ConclusionMSBOS helps in identifying the common surgical procedures with low TP and is one of the efficient tools in preventing the overordering of the blood.     

An audit to estimate the quality of practices followed during bedside blood transfusion in a tertiary care hospital and role of continuous medical education in it

Blood transfusion is an integral component of the health Service system and it becomes imperative that its benefits, risks as well as prospective and viable alternatives of this common medical intervention are explained explicitly to the patients. Appropriate compliance to bedside blood transfusion practices can also help in avoiding adverse transfusion outcomes. At the same time, it is also crucial to document a patient's valid consent based on their decision after evaluation of the risk to benefit ratio. This audit aims to assess the compliance and adherence to bedside blood transfusion practices in a tertiary care hospital and role of Continuous Medical education (CME) on it. The study involved collection of data for blood transfusion services and practices in two periods, for adults and children, who received transfusion from the month of June 2021 to October 2021 and a re-audit beginning from November 2021 to February 2022 following few CMEs in between involving doctors and nurses. A total of 3240 transfusion procedures were assessed in this duration. In them 1500 (46.3%) took place before CME and remaining 1740 (53.7%) procedures took place after CME. There were statistically significant differences between pre-CME and post-CME bedside transfusion practices. During CME/training session, pre-training and post training knowledge has been evaluated by test which also showed statistically significant difference in knowledge of transfusion medicine & bedside transfusion practices. Our study recommends that there is a need of frequent audit on bedside transfusion practices to check the quality and standards associated with it and also points out the need of continuous medical education on this issue.     

Diagnostic blood loss from phlebotomy and hospital acquired anemia in patients with severe burns

PurposeThe study was performed to estimate the diagnostic blood loss (DBL) volume during hospitalization and investigate its relationship with the development of moderate to severe hospital acquired anemia (HAA) and increased number of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion following extensive burns.Materials and methodsThis was a retrospective study of adult burned patients with total body surface area (TBSA) burn larger than 40%, who were admitted to burn center of Changhai hospital between January 2005 and December 2017.ResultsWe included a final number of 157 patients in the present study. Moderate to severe HAA within the fourth week postburn was developed in 46 of 121 patients who stayed over 28-day hospitalization. Patients with moderate to severe HAA had both significantly higher total DBL volume [245 (IQR: 183.75, 325.25) mL vs 168 (119, 163) mL ; P = 0.001] and DBL volume per day [10.22 (IQR: 8.57, 12.38) mL vs 6.63 (5.22, 10.42) mL/day; P = 0.005]. Logistic regression analysis revealed that both DBL volume per day and TBSA burn were independent risk factors for the development of moderate to severe HAA.ConclusionsSeverely burned patients appear to be prone to develop HAA during hospitalization. The DBL volume contribute to the occurrence of moderate to severe HAA, which might be a modifiable target for preventing HAA.     

Transfusional iron overload in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes: A 10-year retrospective survey from a French general hospital

We retrospectively assessed the characteristics of 165 MDS patients from our institution having received at least 20 RBC units. In the vast majority of them various comorbidities (range: 1–6 per patient) were registered including mainly cardiovascular disorders. Serum ferritin was over 1000 μg/L in about half of tested individuals. A chelator agent was initiated in 43.6% of patients (mainly low-risk MDS). Transformation in AML occurred in 46 cases (27.8%). Overall, 112 patients died during follow up. The cause of death was documented in 65 cases and included mainly MDS or AML resistance to therapy. There was a context of bacterial or fungal-related sepsis in 35.3% of cases. We noticed a correlation between survival and number of RBC transfusions. Median OS from the 20th RBC unit was significantly prolonged among the chelated subgroup. Consequences of transfusional iron overload and chelation need to be clarified in MDS patients.     

56例临床输血不良反应原因分析

目的:分析临床输血过程中发生输血不良反应的原因,探讨有效的预防措施。方法:回顾2012—2014年输注由我站提供的血液制品后发生输血不良反应患者56例,分析输血不良反应发生的原因。结果:21615人次输血中,发生不良反应56例,发生率为0.3%,其中非溶血性发热反应为32例,占57.1%,过敏反应为24例,占42.9%,未发现其他输血不良反应。结论:临床上应加强对输血全过程的监管,遵循合理科学用血原则,采用新的输血技术,大力提倡自身输血,确保临床输血的安全性。