Special considerations for the use of pathogen reduced blood components in pediatric patients: An overview.

Pediatric patients requiring transfusion constitute one of the most challenging areas of transfusion practice. Due to the limitations posed by their particular physiological conditions they routinely require specialized component support and more personalised transfusion care than what is routinely utilized in the care of adult patients. Pediatric patients, unlike many adult patients requiring transfusion support, also generally have significant lifespans post-transfusion. This combined with the possibility of long term consequences to adverse events related to transfusion such as infection or change in immunological status drives the need to continue to use improved blood components in the transfusion support of pediatric patients. While considerable progress has been made on methods to improve the safety and efficacy of blood components, the use of these products in pediatric patients continues to be a subject of debate and additional considerations. These additional considerations arise due to the changes in blood product quality and function that is observed following treatment with pathogen reduction methods. Additional considerations regarding toxicological and immunological aspects related to these products are heightened in the case of pediatric patients. This manuscript provides an overview of current practice regarding the use of pathogen reduced products in pediatric patients with discussion of issues for consideration in their implementation in routine, including cost/benefit and risk/benefit aspects associated with their use.

Serum eye drop preparation in Australia: Current manufacturing practice.

Serum eye drops are used to treat diseases such as dry eye syndrome (keratoconjunctivitis sicca), a disease of the surface of the eye that results in an unstable tear film. Patients are referred to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service by ophthalmologists for autologous serum eye drops when other therapies such as artificial tears or topical immunosuppressive agents have failed. In order to manufacture autologous serum eye drops, whole blood is collected from the patients using standard blood collection procedures. The blood is then allowed to clot to produce serum and processed into 20% serum eye drops, which are then returned to the patient for their own use. The eye drops are packaged into a long length of tubing, which is then heat-sealed to produce single-use segments. The demand for serum eye drops in Australia is increasing every year, with a 30% increase in the past 12 months.

Tips and tricks for flow cytometry-based analysis and counting of microparticles.

Submicron-sized extra-cellular vesicles generated by budding from the external cell membranes, microparticles (MPs) are important actors in transfusion as well as in other medical specialties. After briefly positioning their role in the characterization of labile blood products, this technically oriented chapter aims to review practical points that need to be considered when trying to use flow cytometry for the analysis, characterization and absolute counting of MP subsets. Subjects of active discussions relative to instrumentation will include the choice of the trigger parameter, possible standardization approaches requiring instrument quality-control, origin and control of non-specific background and of coincidence artifacts, choice of the type of electronic signals, optimal sheath fluid and sample speed. Questions related to reagents will cover target antigens and receptors, multi-color reagents, negative controls, enumeration of MPs and limiting artifacts due to unexpected (micro-) coagulation of plasma samples. Newly detected problems are generating innovative solutions and flow cytometry will continue to remain the technology of choice for the analysis of MPs, in the domain of transfusion as well as in many diverse specialties.