Methylene blue-photoinactivated plasma versus quarantine fresh frozen plasma in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: a multicentric, prospective cohort study.

Plasma exchange (PE) with plasma infusion is the treatment of choice for thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) but doubts remain as to whether all kinds of plasma are equally effective. A multicentric cohort study was conducted to compare methylene blue-photoinactivated plasma (MBPIP) with quarantine fresh frozen plasma (qFFP) in the treatment of TTP. One hundred and two episodes of idiopathic TTP were included; MBPIP was used in 63 and qFFP in 39. The treatment schedule consisted of daily PE and costicosteroids, and the main end-point was remission status on day 8. Patients treated with MBPIP required more PEs (median: 11 vs. 5, P = 0.002) and a larger volume of plasma (median: 485 ml/kg vs. 216 ml/kg, P = 0.007) to achieve a remission, and presented more recrudescences while on PE therapy (29 of 63 vs. 8 of 39, P = 0.02) than those receiving qFFP. After adjustment for possible confounding factors, the use of MBPIP was associated with a lower likelihood of remission on day 8 [Odds ratio (OR): 0.17; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.06-0.47] and a higher risk of recrudescence while on treatment (OR: 4.2; 95% CI: 1.6-10.8). In conclusion, MBPIP is less effective than qFFP in the treatment of TTP.

Impact of Implementing a Protocol on the Perioperative Management in Patients Treated with Antithrombotics Admitted for Hip Fracture Surgery: an Observational Study.

This study aimed to describe the impact of implementing a protocol on the perioperative management of patients admitted for hip fracture treated with antithrombotics. A protocol was designed based on the recommendations from the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). After its implementation (May 2012), information on antithrombotic management was collected from admission to 3 months after surgery in retrospective (October 2011-March 2012) and prospective (October 2012-March 2013) cohorts. Patients' thromboembolic risk was classified into high, moderate or low according to the ACCP categories. A total of 113 and 101 cases were included in the retrospective and prospective cohorts, respectively. No differences in age, gender, American Society of Anaesthesiology score or thrombotic risk categories were observed between cohorts. Most patients were treated with aspirin or triflusal (55.1% and 48.1% in each cohort, respectively), clopidogrel (24.5% and 26.6%) or acenocoumarol (16.3% and 20.2%). In moderate to high thromboembolic risk patients, a higher rate of bridging therapy with full doses of enoxaparin (18.5% and 50%, p = 0.04 before and 9.1% and 43.7%, p = 0.02 after surgery) and a lower rate of aspirin discontinuation (76% and 55.3%, p = 0.03) were observed in the prospective cohort. Both cohorts had a similar percentage of cases with bleeding (68.1% and 68.3%) and thrombotic events (11.5% and 13%). No differences in the timing between surgery and the discontinuation or resumption of antithrombotics were noted. After the protocol implementation, aspirin was less often stopped and bridging therapy with therapeutic doses of enoxaparin was used more often. However, interruption and resumption times of antithrombotics remained almost unchanged. In order to achieve these goals, more efforts should be made to implement the protocol in clinical practice.

Absence of anti-D alloimmunization in hematologic patients after D-incompatible platelet transfusions.

BACKGROUND: Rh antigens are not present on the platelet surface. However, platelet concentrates may contain enough RBCs to elicit an anti-D response. Thus, D status must be considered in platelet transfusion. In immunosuppressed patients, frequencies of D alloimmunization of up to 19 percent have been previously reported. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Here a prospective study is reported in which 22 D- patients with hematologic disease received D+ platelet transfusions. Platelet concentrates were prepared from whole-blood donations according to the buffy coat method and were pooled before administration. The antibody screen test to detect anti-D was performed by LISS- IAT using the gel test. RESULTS: Our series comprises 22 immunosuppressed D+ patients with a median age of 56 years (range, 23-79). The patients received 121 D-incompatible pooled platelet transfusions. The mean +/- SD of RBC content was 4.17 +/- 1.74 mL. None of the 22 patients developed detectable anti-D after a median follow-up of 8 weeks (range, 1-37). CONCLUSION: The risk of D alloimmunization is low in patients with hematologic disease after D-incompatible platelet transfusions using platelet concentrates prepared by the buffy coat method.