Apheresis practice variation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results of a survey.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic affected healthcare delivery across all specialties including apheresis. To describe the changes in apheresis service practices that occurred during the pandemic, the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) Apheresis Medicine Attending Physician Subcommittee conducted a survey study. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A 32-question survey was designed and distributed to 400 ASFA physician members on September 7, 2022. Attending physicians responded to questions about whether and how apheresis service practices changed during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the time period prior to the pandemic in terms of: (1) procedure types and volumes, (2) patient consultation workflow, and (3) the use of telemedicine. Descriptive analyses were reported as number and frequency of responses. RESULTS: The survey response rate was 13.8% (55/400). Of these respondents, 96.4% (53/55) were attending physicians. The majority of respondents (42/53, 79.2%) indicated that the types of procedures performed during COVID-19 compared to pre-pandemic did not change. Most frequently for apheresis procedure volume, respondents reported: no change in their monthly inpatient volume (21/47, 44.7%) and a decrease in their monthly outpatient volume (28/46, 60.9%). Prior to COVID-19, 75.0% (30/40) of respondents performed consultations at bedside for inpatients and 67.4% (29/43) performed consultations at bedside for outpatients. Bedside consultations decreased in both settings during the pandemic but were still most frequently performed by attending physicians. At the same time, the use of telemedicine increased for 15.4% of survey respondents during COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Some, but not all, respondents observed or made changes to their apheresis service during the COVID-19 pandemic. A subset of changes, such as increased utilization of telemedicine, may persist.

Gender differences in scholarly productivity of early-career transfusion medicine physicians.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Promotion in academic medicine requires evidence of the creation and dissemination of scholarly output, primarily through peer-reviewed publications. Studies demonstrate that scholarly activity and impact are lower for women physicians than for men physicians, especially during the early stages of their academic careers. This report reviewed physicians' academic productivity after passing their Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine (BBTM) subspecialty exam to determine if gender discrepancies exist. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was designed to determine trends in scholarly activity for women physicians versus men physicians in BBTM. Indexed publications were reviewed using iCite, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Portfolio Analysis tool, from 1 January 2017 to 1 December 2021, for BBTM examinees who passed the sub-speciality fellowship exam in the years 2016 through 2018. RESULTS: Overall, women physicians had statistically significant fewer total career publications (median 6 vs. 9 cumulative papers, p = 0.03). Women published at a lower rate after passing BBTM boards, which was not statistically significant (0.7 vs. 1.3 publications per year). Other statistically significant findings include fewer early-career BBTM women physicians were first authors compared with men physicians (p = 0.03) and impact as assessed by relative citation ratio was higher for men (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that there are gender differences in scholarly productivity and impact on early-career BBTM physicians. Given that this cohort of BBTM physicians are early-career professionals, the significant difference in first authorship publications between women and men physicians is especially concerning. Publication metrics should be followed to ensure equitable research environments for early-career BBTM physicians.

Red cell exchange for rapid leukoreduction in adults with hyperleukocytosis and leukostasis.

ABSTRACT: We show that red cell exchange (RCE) treats hyperleukocytosis in acute leukemia. RCE provided similar leukoreduction to standard therapeutic leukoreduction and could be superior in patients with severe anemia or monocytic leukemias or when requiring rapid treatment.

How do I manage a blood product shortage?

BACKGROUND: The demand for blood products sometimes exceeds the available inventory. Blood product inventories are dependent upon the availability of donors, supplies and reagents, and collection staff. During prolonged extreme shortages, blood centers and transfusion services must alter practices to meet the needs of patients. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies Donor and Blood Component Management Subsection compiled some strategies from its blood center and hospital transfusion service members that could be implemented during blood product shortages. RESULTS: Some strategies that blood centers could use to increase their available inventories include increasing donor recruitment efforts, using alternate types of collection kits, manufacturing low-yield apheresis-derived platelets and/or whole blood-derived platelets, using cold-stored platelets, transferring inventory internally among centers of the same enterprise, using frozen inventory, decreasing standing order quantities, prioritizing allocation to certain patient populations, filling partial orders, and educating customers and blood center staff. Transfusion service strategies that could be implemented to maximize the use of the limited available inventory include increasing patient blood management efforts, using split units, finding alternate blood suppliers, trading blood products with other hospital transfusion services, developing a patient priority list, assembling a hospital committee to decide on triaging priorities, using expired products in extreme situations, and accepting nonconforming products after performing safety checks. DISCUSSION: Blood centers and transfusion services must choose the appropriate strategies to implement based on their needs.

How do we direct a transfusion service/blood bank with limited laboratory staff.

BACKGROUND: Transfusion services and blood banks in the United States have struggled with staffing shortages for decades. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors have exacerbated these challenges to the point of crisis for many. Meanwhile, providing quality patient care continues to demand accurate test results and safe blood products delivered in a timely fashion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A group of academic Transfusion Medicine Physicians and a Medical Laboratory Scientist from five academic medical centers in the United States met and discussed the steps we explored and took during the staffing crisis that hit during the pandemic. Our goal was to assist our colleagues and the community by detailing the strategies that helped keep us operational during the most extreme staffing shortage we have experienced to date. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We provide both short-term solutions to include hiring temporary and per diem technologists, consolidating testing, and sending out non-time-sensitive testing; and long-term strategies such as recruiting and hiring laboratory assistants, providing retention and referral bonuses, and increasing compensation. The objective is to address the staffing shortage on multiple fronts (e.g., personnel management, testing, and organization) with the objective of not compromising safety, quality, or patient care. The ultimate long-term goal is to advocate for and build a stronger laboratory workforce for tomorrow.

Apheresis medicine education during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic introduced challenges and disruption across healthcare, including apheresis medicine (AM). In this study, we report findings from a survey conducted among American Society for Apheresis Physician Committee (ASFA-PC) members to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on AM education practices. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A voluntary, anonymous, 24-question, institutional review board-approved survey regarding AM teaching during the pandemic was distributed to ASFA-PC members in the United States between December 1, 2020, and December 15, 2020. Descriptive analyses were reported as number and frequency of respondents for each question. Free text responses were summarized. RESULTS: Responses were received from 14/31 (45%) of ASFA-PC members, of whom 12 practiced at academic institutions. Among these, 11/12 (92%) transitioned to virtual platform for AM trainee conferences during the pandemic. A variety of resources were employed to support independent AM learning. While 7/12 (58%) respondents did not change the informed consent process for AM procedures, others delegated this process or introduced remote alternatives. The most common method respondents used to conduct AM patient rounding was a hybrid in-person/virtual model. CONCLUSION: This survey describes the adaptations and changes AM practitioners made to trainee education in response to the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The transition to virtual and/or hybrid trainee learning and AM rounds underscores the importance of digital AM resources. Further study of the effects of the pandemic and its impact on AM trainee education, as well as patient care is warranted.

Academic Productivity of Early Career Transfusion Medicine Specialists: A Workforce Study.

Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine (BB/TM) specialists oversee all aspects of blood component transfusions and are often involved with apheresis, coagulation, and cellular therapy services as well. This study characterizes the BB/TM workforce to determine the scholarly productivity in the first 3 to 5 years after obtaining board certification and the impact of job type, job location, and academic rank on scholarly productivity. Academic productivity was assessed among individuals passing the American Board of Pathology BB/TM board exam between 2016 and 2018 using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Portfolio Analysis tool, iCite. One hundred and 28 BB/TM specialists were included in the analysis. The majority of BB/TM specialists work in academia, are located in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions, and have a rank of Assistant Professor. Since passing the board exam, 76.5% (98/128) of BB/TM specialists have published papers, with 4.0 (IQR = 1-8) total number of published papers per individual, and 791 total papers amongst the group. The median publications per individual per year since passing boards is 0.9 (IQR = 0.2-2.3) the number of publications per year since passing boards for BB/TM specialists in academia is significantly higher compared to other jobs at 1.33 (IQR, 0.5-2.89, Kruskal-Wallis P = .03) per individual Assistant Professors and Associate Professors (1.3, IQR= 0.4-2.7 and 1.4, IQR = 0.6-3.3, Mann-Whitney test P > .99). BB/TM specialists who passed the board exam between 2016 and 2018 are highly academically productive, especially those working in academia where publications are necessary for promotion. BB/TM physicians are an extensively trained and academically-minded group of practitioners.

Development of curative therapies for sickle cell disease.

Recent advances in managing Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) significantly improved patient survival and quality of life. Disease-modifying drug therapies such as hydroxyurea, L-glutamine, voxelotor, and crizanlizumab reduce pain crises and severe complications. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation using matched-sibling donors is currently the only standard curative option; however, only a small proportion of patients have such donors. Cord blood and haploidentical transplantation with a modified conditioning regimen have expanded the allogeneic donor pool, making the therapy available to more patients. Gene therapy is a promising cure that is currently undergoing clinical trials and different approaches have demonstrated efficacy. Multidisciplinary expertise is needed in developing the best treatment strategy for patients with SCD.

Under the hood: The molecular biology driving gene therapy for the treatment of sickle cell disease.

Gene therapy will soon become the dominant modality for treating of sickle cell disease (SCD). Currently, three technologies are the most promising: expression of transgenic globin genes via a lentiviral vector, controlled mutation of the ß-globin control cluster by transgenic CRISPR-based ribonucleoprotein, and suppression of BCL11a mRNA by shRNA. In this review, we discuss the mechanism of each technology and how they correct the SCD pathology at the molecular level. We conclude by discussing potential directions future therapy may take.

Multicenter evaluation of the IL-3-pSTAT5 assay to assess the potency of cryopreserved stem cells from cord blood units: The BEST Collaborative study.

BACKGROUND: The IL-3-pSTAT5 assay, a new, rapid, and standardized flow-cytometry-based assay may compensate for several limitations of the colony-forming unit (CFU) assay typically used for stem cell potency assessments of cord blood units (CBU). We performed an inter-laboratory evaluation of the performance of this new assay. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative multicenter, international study included 15 participants from public cord blood banks (CBBs), CBB-supporting research laboratories, and stem cell laboratories. To perform the IL-3-pSTAT5 assay, participating centers received reagents, instructions, and 10 blind CBU samples, including eight normal samples and two samples exposed to a transient warming event. We measured inter-laboratory agreement qualitatively (proportion of correctly classified samples) and quantitatively (coefficient of variation [CV], correlation coefficients, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, and intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]). RESULTS: The qualitative agreement was 97.3% (i.e., 107/110; Fleiss' kappa = 0.835). The average CV on a per-sample basis was 11.57% among all samples, 8.99% among normal samples, and on a per-center basis was 9.42% among normal samples. In a correlation matrix that compared results across centers, the mean Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.88 (standard deviation = 0.04). The ICC was 0.83 (95% confidence interval = 0.68-0.95). The area under the curve (AUC) from the ROC curve was 0.9974. DISCUSSION: Excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement was exhibited across laboratories. The IL-3-pSTAT5 assay may therefore be implemented in flow cytometry laboratories to rapidly and reliably provide standardized measures of stem cell potency in CBUs.

Red Blood Cell Transfusion.

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusions are necessary to increase a patient's oxygen carrying capacity. The optimal transfusion trigger remains elusive, but a restrictive transfusion trigger of 7 g/dL has been shown in studies to reduce RBC transfusions without adversely affecting patient outcomes. Patient blood management programs have been shown effective at reducing RBC transfusions. Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers and induced pluripotent stem cell derived RBCs are being developed to help mitigate RBC shortages and RBC transfusion limitations. Numerous challenges still exist that need to be overcome before they can have widespread clinical use.

The use of therapeutic plasma exchange as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019: A critical appraisal of the current evidence.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to a major pandemic. While vaccine development moves forward, optimal treatment continues to be explored. Efforts include an ever-expanding number of clinical trials along with newly proposed experimental and off-label investigational therapies; one of which is therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE). There have been a number of publications on TPE use as adjunctive therapy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but no prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been completed. This article critically appraises the current available evidence on TPE as a treatment modality for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Apheresis physician well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results of a survey.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed additional stressors on physician lives. In this study, we report findings from a survey conducted among attending physician (AP) members of the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) to elucidate the status of their well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as resources provided or actions taken by their institutions and themselves personally to maintain or improve their well-being. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A 17-question, voluntary, IRB-approved survey regarding well-being was distributed to the ASFA AP members between August 26, 2020 and September 16, 2020. The descriptive analyses were reported as number and frequency of respondents for each question. Non-parametric chi-square tests, ANOVA, and paired t-tests were performed to determine differences in categorical variables, changes in well-being scores, and compare time points, respectively. RESULTS: Based on the responses of 70 attending level physicians representing the United States (U.S., 53, 75.7%) and outside the U.S. (17, 24.3%), the following were observed: (1) COVID-19 negatively affects the well-being of a sub-population of APs, (2) neither institutional nor individual measures to improve well-being completely resolved the problem of decreased AP well-being during the pandemic, and (3) personal actions may be superior to institutional resources. CONCLUSION: There is a widespread decline in AP well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic that was not adequately improved by institutional or personal resources/actions taken. Institutions and physicians must work together to implement strategies including resources and actions that could further improve AP physician well-being during a public health crisis.

Gene therapy for hemoglobinopathies.

Beta hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell disease (SCD) and ß-thalassemia (BT) are the most common monogenic diseases worldwide. Both diseases are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Because patients require lifelong follow-up and care, it also poses a serious burden in health services. Blood transfusions and/or drug therapy ameliorate the signs and symptoms of the disorders but are not curative. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is currently the only cure but it has several limitations including the paucity of human leukocyte antigen-matched related donors and a high risk of adverse events. Recent advances in hematopoietic stem cell based-gene therapy has made autologous HCT (auto-HCT) a reality. Clinical trials are underway using different gene transfer vectors and cassettes. Data obtained so far with a short-term follow-up has been very encouraging. Patients with SCD engrafted, had sustained production of the transgene and a decreased number of vaso-occlusive crises. Patients with BT were able to decrease the amount of transfusions required or stop transfusions all together. Adverse events observed were mostly associated with the myeloablative conditioning regimen. Long term data on gene persistence and toxicities are still needed. This review focuses on the current state of auto-HCT with gene therapy for SCD and BT. Current clinical trials and their outcome results are summarized.