A pre-transfusion crossmatch test is crucial for ensuring safe blood transfusions by identifying the compatibility between donor and recipient blood samples. Conventional tube methods for crossmatching have limitations, including subjectivity in result interpretation and the potential for human error. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of a new crossmatch test using Microscanner C3, which can overcome these shortcomings. The crossmatch test results using the method were obtained in 323 clinical samples. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and concordance rate of the crossmatch test using Microscanner C3 were 98.20%, 100.00%, 100.00%, 98.11%, and 99.07%, respectively. The diagnostic performance of the new system offers a promising alternative to conventional tube methods for pre-transfusion crossmatch testing. Microscanner C3 could also increase the automation, standardization, and accuracy of crossmatch tests. The crossmatch test using Microscanner C3 is thought to increase the efficiency and reliability in identifying blood samples suitable for transfusion, thereby improving patient safety and optimizing the use of blood products in clinical settings.

UNASSIGNED: Platelet concentrates are blood products obtained from donor\'s blood, and their conservation must be subject to a strict quality control process to guarantee a safe and high-performance product in treating diseases that require their use.
UNASSIGNED: We designed a cross-sectional study to determine the total compliance rate in platelet concentrates obtained in the blood bank of the Cayetano Heredia Hospital in Lima during November and December of 2019. The Buffy method Coat obtained the platelet concentrates, and parameters such as platelet count and residual leukocytes, pH, and swirling effect were evaluated according to the National Hemotherapy and Blood Bank Program criteria.
UNASSIGNED: The platelet count had a mean of 6.66 ± 3.94 x 10¹⁰/µL, the platelet concentrates had a mean of 56.30 ± 6.22 mL, and all, without exception, had the presence of the Swirling phenomenon. The pH had a mean of 7.64 ± 0.15, while the leukocyte count had a mean of 4.22 ± 3.51 x 10⁷/µL. Regarding compliance by the parameters evaluated, it was evident that the platelet and leukocyte count had moderate compliance rates of 43.6% and 24.1%, while the pH and swirling effect had rates of 100% in both cases. The total compliance rate was 54.9% (95% confidence interval: 46.0 to 63.5).
UNASSIGNED: The compliance rate of platelet concentrates is moderate, and it is necessary to implement a process of continuous quality improvement in the blood bank.
UNASSIGNED: Los concentrados plaquetarios son hemoderivados obtenidos de la sangre, y su conservación debe estar supeditada a un estricto proceso de control de calidad para garantizar un producto inocuo y de alto rendimiento en el tratamiento de enfermedades que requieran su uso.
UNASSIGNED: Diseñamos un estudio transversal que tuvo por objetivo determinar la tasa de conformidad total en concentrados plaquetarios obtenidos en el banco de sangre del Hospital Cayetano Heredia de Lima durante los meses de noviembre y diciembre del año 2019. Los concentrados plaquetarios fueron obtenidos por el método de Buffy Coat y se evaluaron parámetros como el recuento de plaquetas y leucocitos residuales, pH y efecto swirling, según criterios del Programa Nacional de Hemoterapia y Bancos de Sangre.
UNASSIGNED: El recuento de plaquetas tuvo una media de 6.66 ± 3.94 x1010/µL y los concentrados plaquetarios tuvieron una media de 56.30 ± 6.22 mL, y todos sin excepción tuvieron presencia de fenómeno Swirling. El pH tuvo una media de 7.64 ± 0.15, mientras que el recuento de leucocitos tuvo una media de 4.22 ± 3.51 x107/µL. En cuanto al cumplimiento por parámetro evaluado, se evidenció que el recuento de plaquetas y leucocitos tuvieron tasas de conformidad de 43.6% y 24.1%, mientras que el pH y efecto swirling tuvieron tasas del 100% en ambos casos. La tasa de conformidad total fue 54.9% (CI95%: 46.0 a 63.5).
UNASSIGNED: La tasa de conformidad de los concentrados plaquetarios es moderada, y se requiere implementar un proceso de mejora continua de la calidad en el banco de sangre.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic confronted medicine with several difficulties, including a lack of specific therapeutic options, the absence of out-of-hospital testing facilities to diagnose the condition, and the sudden extraordinary need for intensive medical care that overwhelmed most hospitals. Early in the pandemic, many physicians recognized that using antibodies harvested from recovering patients was a treatment that had a proven track record for many diseases and that might be used to manage the disease at least as a stopgap until more specific medicines for COVID-19 were developed. But using convalescent plasma raised many additional complications, most especially the logistics that needed to be put in place to collect and distribute such plasma. Unlike drugs ordered from a pharmacy, plasma and other blood products are procured by a complex process that depends intensely on interaction with the public, the provider of all blood products that are directly provided to patients. Blood components such as convalescent plasma, intended to be used immediately without major processing, are entirely supplied by donations from the public. This form of treatment can therefore benefit from patient advocates, especially if they are experienced in solving problems of logistics and in the process of matching supply to demand that is more commonly encountered in the business world than in medicine. In this chapter, one patient advocate, Chaim Lebovits, describes the process of mobilizing the population, interacting with blood banks and hospitals, and successfully channeling thousands of units of plasma from volunteers recovering from COVID-19 to patients in hospitals. Starting in New York City in early 2020 and initially working with communities with which Mr. Lebovits was familiar, the efforts steadily spread across many parts of the US. The model described here, which uses patient advocates to serve as a link between patients, blood banks, and hospitals in the service of gathering and distributing high-titer convalescent plasma to patients is likely to be relevant to the next pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Blood donors are screened for medication use to determine their health status and to ensure that the collection will be safe and efficacious for transfusion. Although stringent medication deferral guidelines exist for human blood donors, no consensus exists as to which medications should be permitted among canine donors.
METHODS: A brief survey regarding canine donor screening methods was distributed to an online hematology and transfusion medicine group and included questions pertaining to commonly prescribed medications and consumption of a raw food diet.
RESULTS: The survey results demonstrate that more than half of the respondents accept canine donors given thyroid supplements, whereas respondents were split as to whether they accept canine donors given antihistamines chronically. Most survey respondents exclude canine donors taking anti-inflammatory or anti-itch medications unless in acute circumstances and only after a washout period. More than half of the survey respondents exclude dogs fed a raw food diet.
CONCLUSIONS: The survey results demonstrate that there is no obvious agreement regarding which medications to permit in canine donors. Evidence-based guidelines are needed to inform best practices and the subsequent decisions made by donor programs.

BACKGROUND: Hemotropic mycoplasmas, hemoplasmas, are epi-erythrocytic parasitic bacteria that can be transmitted through blood transfusion.
OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of hemoplasma infection of potential feline blood donors and investigate the association between Hemoplasma spp. quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) positivity in blood units and selected variables.
METHODS: Seven thousand five hundred seventy-three blood units from 4121 privately-owned potential donor cats.
METHODS: Retrospective observational cross-sectional study. The Banco Sangue Animal (BSA)-Animal Blood Bank medical database was reviewed for all feline donations performed in 2022 in Portugal, Spain, and Belgium. Baseline characteristics and results of blood-borne pathogens screening tests were extracted from the medical records.
RESULTS: Two hundred twelve of 4034 Portuguese donor cats and 2 of 70 Spanish donor cats tested positive for Hemoplasma spp. qPCR in 2022 leading to an overall estimated prevalence of 5.2% (95% CI: 4.5%-5.9%) in potential blood donors. Using multivariable generalized estimation equation models, Hemoplasma spp. qPCR was more often positive among blood units issued from male cats (OR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.4-2.6, P < .0001), units positive for FeLV (OR = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.4-5.6, P = .0023), and units collected in winter months (OR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.7-3.6, P < .0001).
CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the importance of Hemoplasma spp. and other relevant blood-borne pathogens screening at every donation. Implementing stringent screening protocols is crucial to mitigate the risk of hemoplasma transmission via blood transfusions, thereby safeguarding the health and welfare of cats receiving transfusions.

BACKGROUND: Pakistan has a high prevalence of viral hepatitis and these transfusion-transmitted illnesses (TTIs) pose a major hazard to the health of patients who need blood transfusions, which has a negative impact on the affordability and accessibility of safe blood products in underfunded or less strengthened healthcare systems. While selecting a donor for blood donation, he/she must be healthy enough to donate 500 mL of whole blood, but some of them who were considered the healthiest community were caught to be reactive while getting screened for hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which reflects the true prevalence of these illnesses in this specific population.
OBJECTIVE:  To study the seroprevalence and trends of HBV, HCV, and HIV in healthy blood donors of Sindh, Pakistan.
METHODS:  Blood donated by healthy donors from Sindh, collected from January 2018 to December 2022, was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) at 185 blood centers running under the umbrella of Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority Pakistan (SBTA).
RESULTS:  The results of serological screening tests for HBV, HCV, and HIV performed from January 2018 to December 2022 revealed a continuously increasing trend of all infections. The total number of blood donations in the blood banks across the province showed a progressive increase from 22,822 donors in 2018 to 937,039 donors in 2022, which is 14.21% of the total increase. Among 4,199,195 donors screened from the said period, 3,821,268 (91%) were replacement donors while only 3,77,927 (9%) were voluntary donors. Among them 3,870,598 (92.2%) were males and only 3,285,97 (7.8%) were females, whereas with regard to donors\' age, most of them i.e. 2,664,648 (63%), fall in the 29-39 years age group. Overall, from 2018 to 2022, out of a total of 4,199,195 individuals screened, 81,266 (1.94%) tested positive for HCV, 71,688 (1.7%) tested positive for HBV, and 6,711 (0.15%) tested positive for HIV. The total number of positive cases across all three infections was 159,665 (3.80%). The overall average seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HCV, and anti-HIV among blood donors of 185 blood banks, for five years, was 2.78%, 3.82%, 3.65%, 4.15%, and 4.04%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS:  The study highlights a concerning increase in the prevalence of HCV, HBV, and HIV among blood donors in Sindh, Pakistan, over the five-year period. It underscores the importance of continued surveillance, prevention, and intervention strategies to address these infections. The recommendations include the promotion of voluntary blood donors and screening of donated blood through a highly sensitive screening assay (nucleic acid testing). There should be centralized blood collection systems having better personnel and equipment, and non-remunerated voluntary blood donations must be strongly encouraged. All these, however, require strong political commitment and multisector engagement with comprehensive policy implementation.

Background: Access to blood products is crucial for patient safety during the perioperative course. However, reduced donations and seasonally occurring blood shortages pose a significant challenge to the healthcare system, with surgeries being postponed. The German Blood Transfusion act requires that RBC packages become assigned to an individual patient, resulting in a significant reduction in the available blood products, further aggravating shortages. We aimed to develop a scoring system predicting transfusion probability in patients undergoing spine surgery to reduce assignment and, thus, increase the availability of blood products. Methods: The medical records of 252 patients who underwent spine surgery were evaluated and 18 potential predictors for RBC transfusion were tested to construct a logistic-regression-based predictive scoring system for blood transfusion in patients undergoing spine surgery. Results: The variables found to be the most important included the type of surgery, vertebral body replacement, number of stages, and pre-operative Hb concentration, indicating that surgical specification and the extent of the surgical procedure were more influential than the pre-existing patient condition and medication. Conclusions: Our model showed a good discrimination ability with an average AUC [min, max] of 0.87 [0.6, 0.97] and internal validation with a similar AUC of 0.84 [0.66, 0.97]. In summary, we developed a scoring system to forecast patients\' perioperative transfusion needs when undergoing spine surgery using pre-operative predictors, potentially reducing the need for RBC allocation and, thus, resulting in an increased availability of this valuable resource.

Knowledge regarding the profile of eligible blood donors presenting positive results in laboratory screening is essential for reducing transfusion-transmitted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Our study aimed to evaluate the prevalence, incidence, predictor variables and residual risk (RR) of HIV/HBV/HCV in blood bags donated in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This study analysed data retrieved from the records of a large blood bank relating to donations collected at multiple centres within the period 2012-2018, during which 1 991 120 blood bags were screened using immunoassays and nucleic acid tests (NATs). Multilevel modelling was used to investigate the association between sex, civil status and age group with HIV/HBV/HCV. RR was estimated from the incidence values (restricted to negative and positive tests within the study period) and window periods for infections. The prevalence in first time donors, incidence and RR of HCV (223.73 cases per 100 000; 54.84 per 100 000 persons-year and 1.6527 per 100 000, respectively) were higher than those of HIV (172.65 cases per 100 000; 28.25 per 100 000 persons-year and 0.8514 per 100 000) and HBV (168.17 cases per 100 000; 18.54 per 100 000 persons-year and 0.5588 per 100 000). The odds of acquiring infection were greater in male, single and older donors. Sixteen donors were identified as seronegative and NATs+ during the 7-year span of the study. Our study has clarified some spatiotemporal trends regarding HIV/HBV/HCV infections in donated blood in Brazil. The results will contribute to the formulation of directives addressed to high-risk donors.

UNASSIGNED: Maintaining optimal blood inventory levels in hospitals is important to prevent blood shortage and wastage. We aimed to provide an efficient blood inventory management strategy for hospital blood banks nation-wide by comparing the current use of 5-day issuable stock (IS) with Lim\'s IS as a novel target IS.
UNASSIGNED: The average and CV of daily usage (DU) were calculated from information entered into Korea\'s Blood Management System by 194 participating hospitals in 2019 and 2020. Using these data, Lim\'s IS was calculated by determining the simulated annual average blood shortage day nearest to 1 for each blood group in each hospital. The 5-day IS (5IS) was estimated by multiplying the average DU in 2018 by five to count the shortage days in 2019.
UNASSIGNED: The average DU (0.3-231.3 units) and corresponding CV (0.33-7.14) in the participating hospitals were inversely proportional (r=-0.699 to -0.695). The hypothetical averages of 5IS and Lim\'s IS were 27.0±41.2 and 24.7±20.8, respectively (P=0.006). The shortage days for 5IS and Lim\'s IS were 8.9±22.7 and 1.0±1.9, respectively (P<0.001).
UNASSIGNED: While 5IS was unacceptable for universal application, Lim\'s IS remained near one shortage day and is considered more efficient than 5IS. Hospitals should implement indicators that consider DU and its variations. This is the first study to introduce Lim\'s IS as an indicator of optimal blood inventory, and the data are expected to provide guidance for effective blood inventory management nationwide, particularly during blood shortages.

BACKGROUND: Poor disinfection is the main cause of blood contamination, so its elimination is key to limiting the entry of bacteria into the collection system. With the advancement of antiseptic technology, antiseptics with sterile, disposable applicators are now available.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate in situ two antiseptics (with and without applicators) for blood banks and to demonstrate in vitro antiseptic activity on bacterial biofilms of importance in transfusion medicine.
METHODS: Antiseptic A (2% sterile solution of chlorhexidine gluconate/70% isopropyl alcohol provided with applicator) and bulk antiseptic B (10% povidone-iodine) were evaluated. The deferred blood donor arms were subjected to disinfection with antiseptics A and B and the contralateral arms were cultured to determine the baseline bacterial load (control). Antiseptic activity was assessed by ANOVA and logaritmic reduction values (LRV) and percentage reduction values (PRV) were calculated. Finally, the in vitro activity of antiseptic A was analyzed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) on biofilm models.
RESULTS: Prior to disinfection tests, commensal and clinically important bacteria were identified; antiseptic A showed post-disinfection bacterial growth rates of zero compared to controls (p < 0.0001). The frequency of bacterial growth with antiseptic B was 74%. A significant difference was identified between both antiseptics, where antiseptic A showed higher activity (p < 0.5468). LRV and PRV were 0.6-2.5/100% and 0.3-1.7/66.7-99.7% for antiseptics A and B, respectively. Through CLSM, disinfectant A (without applicator) showed lower in vitro antiseptic activity on the tested biofilms at the exposure times recommended by the manufacturer.
CONCLUSIONS: Sterile solution of chlorhexidine gluconate/isopropyl alcohol with applicator showed advantages disinfection in deferred blood donors over povidone-iodine.