Use and Waste of Reconstituted Whole Blood Exchange Transfusions: An 11-year National Observational Study.

OBJECTIVES: To identify indications for exchange transfusions, assess the use and waste of exchange transfusion products (ie, reconstituted whole blood exchange transfusions), and determine nationwide distribution and prevalence of these transfusions in the Netherlands. STUDY DESIGN: All 9 neonatal intensive care units and 15 non-neonatal intensive care unit hospitals participated in this retrospective, observational, cohort study. We retrieved data on the indications for and use of all exchange transfusion products ordered by participating centers over an 11-year period. RESULTS: A total of 574 patients for whom 1265 products were ordered were included for analyses. Severe ABO (32.6%) and non-ABO (25.2%) immune hemolysis and subsequent hyperbilirubinemia were the most frequent indications. Rare indications were severe leukocytosis in Bordetella pertussis (2.1%) and severe anemia (1.5%). Approximately one-half of all ordered products remained unused. In 278 of 574 neonates (48.4%), ≥1 products were not used, of which 229 (82.7%) were due to the resolving of severe hyperbilirubinemia with further intensification of phototherapy. The overall prevalence of neonates who received an exchange transfusion was 14.6:100 000 liveborn neonates. CONCLUSIONS: A considerable proportion of products remained unused, and annually a limited number of patients are treated with an exchange transfusion in the Netherlands, highlighting the rarity of the procedure in the Netherlands.

Comparison of New Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Definitions on Long-Term Outcomes in Preterm Infants.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the discriminative performances of the 2018 National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the 2019 Jensen definitions of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) with the 2001 NIH definition on adverse neurodevelopmental and respiratory outcomes at 2 years and 5 years corrected age. STUDY DESIGN: In this single-center retrospective cohort study, outcomes of infants born at <30 weeks of gestational age were collected. The 3 definitions of BPD were compared by adding the different definitions to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's outcome prediction model for neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) or death. Discriminative performance was compared for both outcomes at 2 years and 5 years corrected age by calculating the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve and z-statistics. RESULTS: The presence of BPD and its severity were determined in 584 infants. There were considerable shifts in BPD grading among the different definitions. At both time points, all BPD definition models had comparable discriminating power for NDI and respiratory morbidity, with one exception. Compared with the 2001 NIH definition, the 2018 NIH definition had less predictive power for the neurologic outcome at 2 years corrected age. CONCLUSIONS: Our comparison of the 3 BPD definitions shows similar discriminative performance on long term neurodevelopmental and respiratory outcomes at 2 years and 5 years corrected age.

Restrictive guideline for red blood cell transfusions in preterm neonates: effect of a protocol change.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate red blood cell (RBC) transfusion practices in preterm neonates before and after protocol change. METHODS: All preterm neonates (<32 weeks of gestation) admitted between 2008 and 2017 at our neonatal intensive care unit were included in this retrospective study. Since 2014, a more restrictive transfusion guideline was implemented in our unit. We compared transfusion practices before and after this guideline change. Primary outcome was the number of transfusions per neonate and the percentage of neonates receiving a blood transfusion. Secondary outcomes were neonatal morbidities and mortality during admission. RESULTS: The percentage of preterm neonates requiring a blood transfusion was 37·5% (405/1079) before and 32·7% (165/505) after the protocol change (P = 0·040). The mean number of transfusions given to each transfused neonate decreased from 2·93 (standard deviation (SD) ± 2·26) to 2·20 (SD ±1·29) (P = 0·007). We observed no association between changes in transfusion practices and neonatal outcome. CONCLUSION: The use of a more restrictive transfusion guideline leads to a reduction in red blood cell transfusions in preterm neonates, without evidence of an increase in mortality or short-term morbidity.

Pharmacokinetics of rituximab in a pediatric patient with therapy-resistant nephrotic syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Rituximab (RTX) has recently been introduced as a second-line therapy for nephrotic syndrome in children. Studies show that RTX given during the nephrotic state may be less effective than treatment during a non-nephrotic state, possibly due to loss of RTX in the urine. CASE-DIAGNOSIS/TREATMENT: We describe a 10-year-old boy with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) treated with RTX during a phase of active non-selective proteinuria. The serum half-life of RTX in this patient was less than 1 day compared to 20 days in patients without protein losses. Urinary clearance was at least 25 %, compared to approximately 0 % in control patients. However, RTX loss in the urine, as well as in pleural effusion and ascites, only partly explains the rapid drop in the serum RTX concentration of this patient. CONCLUSIONS: Serum half-life of RTX can be extremely short, partly due to excessive urinary losses in therapy-resistant nephrotic syndrome with non-selective proteinuria, as seen in our patient. These findings may help to explain the poor results of RTX treatment in patients with active proteinuria.

Iatrogenic blood loss in extreme preterm infants due to frequent laboratory tests and procedures.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the cumulative amount of iatrogenic blood loss in extreme preterm infants during the first month of life. STUDY DESIGN: We performed an observational cohort study in 20 extreme preterm infants (gestational age <28 weeks). We recorded the amount of blood drawn for laboratory testing during the first 4 weeks of life, the number of punctures for phlebotomy and intravenous access and the amount of blood loss associated with these procedures. We compared the cumulative blood loss to the estimated total blood volume (85 ml/kg body weight) and to the total volume of red blood cell (RBC) transfusions administered during the same study period. RESULTS: The median cumulative iatrogenic blood loss was 24.2 ml/kg (interquartile range (IQR) 15.8-30.3 ml/kg) per patient, which equals a median of 28.5% (IQR 18.6-35.6%) of the total blood volume. Blood loss was higher in the most extreme preterm infants (30.2 ml/kg at 24 weeks versus 15.9 ml/kg at 27 weeks). The median number of punctures per infant was 47 (IQR 26-56) during the first 4 weeks of life. The median volume of RBC transfusions administered during the study period was 30 ml/kg, slightly more than the cumulative blood loss (24.2 ml/kg). CONCLUSIONS: Extreme preterm infants lose almost one-third of their total blood volume in the first month of life as a result of blood loss due to multiple blood draws for laboratory investigations, and procedures.