Frequency of ABO and Rhesus blood groups in Saudi healthy blood donors versus non-Saudi in a retrospective study in Makkah City

Purpose: to assess the frequency of ABO and Rh blood groups among Saudi and non-Saudi healthy blood donors and to compare between them. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted; in Makkah City, Saudi Arabia. It included 15,365 participants of 44 nationalities who have attended the blood bank of King Abdul Aziz Hospital. The collected data were age, sex, nationality, ABO, and Rhesus blood groups. Results: 46.8 % of the participants were O, 28.8 % A, 19.5 % B, and 4.9% AB. The nationalities with a higher frequency of blood group O were Saudi, Mauritanian, Yemeni, Thai, Malian, Sudanese, Jordanian, Indian, Moroccan, Somali, Malaysian, Indonesian, Myanmar, Nigerian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Algerian, Djibouti, Burkinabe, Eritrean, Ghanaian, Bahraini, Bosnian, Canadian, Gambian, Iraqi, and Sri Lankan. Those with a higher frequency of blood group A were Turkish, Palestinian, Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Afghan, Chadian, French, Tunisian, Cameroonian, Ethiopian, and British. Those with a higher frequency of B were Nigerien, American, Nepalese, and two nationalities with higher AB frequency Filipino and Chinese. 91.6 % of all populations were Rh-positive, and 8.4% were Rh-negative. The Saudi participants were like some nationalities and differed from others. Conclusion: In Makkah city, the higher frequency of ABO blood group in Saudi and non -Saudi people is O followed by A, then B, and AB. The Rh-positive is predominant, and 8.4% of the participants are negative. The ABO and Rh blood groups' identifications are essential for providing suitable blood storage for individuals in need.

Prolonged Blood Storage and Risk of Posttransfusion Acute Kidney Injury

Background Erythrocyte transfusions are independently associated with acute kidney injury. Kidney injury may be consequent to the progressive hematologic changes that develop during storage. This study therefore tested the hypothesis that prolonged erythrocyte storage increases posttransfusion acute kidney injury. Methods The Informing Fresh versus Old Red Cell Management (INFORM) trial randomized 31,497 patients to receive either the freshest or oldest available matching erythrocyte units and showed comparable mortality with both. This a priori substudy compared the incidence of posttransfusion acute kidney injury in the randomized groups. Acute kidney injury was defined by the creatinine component of the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes criteria. Results The 14,461 patients included in this substudy received 40,077 erythrocyte units. For patients who received more than one unit, the mean age of the blood units was used as the exposure. The median of the mean age of blood units transfused per patient was 11 days [interquartile range, 8, 15] in the freshest available blood group and 23 days [interquartile range, 17, 30] in the oldest available blood group. In the primary analysis, posttransfusion acute kidney injury was observed in 688 of 4,777 (14.4%) patients given the freshest available blood and 1,487 of 9,684 (15.4%) patients given the oldest available blood, with an estimated relative risk (95% CI) of 0.94 (0.86 to 1.02; P = 0.132). The secondary analysis treated blood age as a continuous variable (defined as duration of storage in days), with an estimated relative risk (95% CI) of 1.00 (0.96 to 1.04; P = 0.978) for a 10-day increase in the mean age of erythrocyte units. Conclusions In a population of patients without severely impaired baseline renal function receiving fewer than 10 erythrocyte units, duration of blood storage had no effect on the incidence of posttransfusion acute kidney injury. Editor’s Perspective What We Already Know about This Topic What This Article Tells Us That Is New

Time Dependent Erythrocyte Morphometric Changes of Prolonged Stored Blood and its Effect on Target Post-transfusion Haematocrit of Splenectomised Mongrel Dogs

Background: Mean values of erythrocytic morphometric parameters of very old blood and its effect on the target post-transfusion haematocrit changes of splenectomised dogs was studied. Methods: Two hundred and fifty milliliters of blood each were drawn from healthy dogs (n=6) into citrate phosphate dextrose adenine-1 anti-coagulated blood bags, preserved for 35 days for the evaluation of erythrocyte morphometric and viability parameters. Thereafter, twenty adult male splenectomised dogs were randomly assigned into 5 groups (n=3). Post-splenectomy, 4, 14, 21 and 28 day old blood (DOB) were transfused to groups II-V while group I animals were not transfused. Intraoperative blood loss was determined during the surgery while post-transfusion, animals haematocrit were assayed and used to calculate the targeted haematocrit. Result: Findings revealed irreversible progressive time dependent morphometric changes by day 14 of blood storage. Hence, it is recommended that for transfusion purposes, 4 DOB should be the hallmark as it achieved the desired haematocrit and no morphometric changes were observed from it.

Effects of whole blood storage in a polyolefin blood bag on platelets for acute normovolemic hemodilution

Acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH) is a potential transfusion method for platelets, as well as for red blood cells. However, previous studies have shown that whole blood storage in ANH decreases platelet aggregability by 14.7–76.3% and that this decrease is not recovered by reinfusion. We investigated whether a new whole blood storage method for 6 h using a polyolefin bag, based on the platelet concentrates storage method, would maintain platelet function better than the conventional method using a polyvinyl chloride bag. We demonstrated that storage of whole blood in a polyolefin bag maintained ADP-induced aggregation rates at more than twofold higher than those in a polyvinyl chloride bag, and also significantly suppressed P-selectin expression, a platelet activation marker (ADP-induced aggregation rates: 24.6 ± 5.1% vs. 51.7 ± 11.5%, p = 0.002; P-selectin expression; 50.3 ± 8.4MFI vs. 31.6 ± 9.3MFI, p = 0.018). These results could be attributed to the high gas permeability of polyolefin, which lowered PCO2 and maintained a high pH with or without agitation. There were no significant changes in platelet count and red blood cell parameters due to the storage methods. Our results suggest that ANH using polyolefin bags is advantageous in improving hemostatic function compared to the conventional method.

Peddling promise? An analysis of private umbilical cord blood banking company websites in Canada

Private umbilical cord blood banking is growing around the world. A family’s decision to bank cord blood publicly or privately can be influenced by numerous sources including healthcare practitioners, personal networks, the popular press, social media and marketing discourse from private entities. Issues have been raised concerning how private banks market their services, particularly with regards to the likelihood of use and for what purposes cord blood can be used. The objective of this study was to analyze the marketing on the seven company websites offering private cord blood storage in Canada. We performed a mix of content and general qualitative analysis on the seven websites. Our analysis shows substantial hype around cord blood uses, amplifying the promise of speculative uses and distorting the likelihood of use. Findings show that this promotional messaging often deploys communication strategies which draw on testimonials and emotionally-charged narratives. Questions should be asked about whether the promissory aspects of these websites constitute breaches of Canadian law or regulation. Careful monitoring of the private cord blood space is important for ensuring that the Canadian public is adequately and accurately informed of the services being offered.