Paul J. Schmidt

Posttransfusion Hepatitis After Exclusion of Commercial and Hepatitis-B Antigen-Positive Donors

Abstract In a prospective study the exclusion of commercial blood donors and donors positive for hepatitis-B antigen (HBAg) resulted in a hepatitis frequency of only 3.7 cases/1000 units transfused...

Blood and disaster: Supply and demand

Almost immediately after the attacks that struck New York City and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, the federal government and the American Red Cross issued an appeal for blood donors. Nati...

Febrile, Nonhemolytic Transfusion Reactions and the Limited Role of Leukoagglutinins in Their Etiology

In more than ten thousand transfusions given over a four‐year period to 1,649 patients, the incidence of urticarial reactions was 1.1 per cent. There were no hemolytic transfusion reactions and none due to bacterial contamination or to bacterial pyrogens. There were 276 “Febrile Nonhemolytic” reactions for an incidence of 2.5 per cent.

Isoimmunization after Multiple Transfusions

THE risk of isoimmunization after blood transfusion depends on the relative frequency of blood-group factors, their antigenicity and the number and timing of exposures (transfusions). There have be...

A comparative study of the effect of transfusion of fresh and preserved whole blood on bleeding in patients with acute leukemia.

GROSS bleeding is a frequent and major complication in patients with acute leukemia. The etiology of this bleeding is closely related to thrombocytopenia,1 although other coagulation abnormalities ...

The plasma wars: a history

P lasma, the first blood component, was born in conflict 75 years ago. It was first produced for World War II, a conflict dubbed “The Plasma War,” amid conflicting views as to whether it should be provided as a liquid or a dried powder. Near the end of the war, when the necessary collection, refrigeration, and air transport links had been established, whole blood was shipped to the battlefront and found to be superior. The American National Red Cross collected more than 13 million units of blood between 1942 and 1945; more than 12 million were converted into plasma, the red blood cells (RBCs) mostly discarded. By the end of the war, more than 40,000 pints of whole blood were used in the final battle for Okinawa. History of human progress is really biography and the plasma story of liquid versus dried is the story of two men, John Elliott and Max Strumia. In the 60 years since then, Plasma Wars continue as only scientific skirmishes with suggested revisions in processing or usage found almost monthly in the current literature.

Hepatitis B Antigen (HB Ag) and Antibody (Anti-HB Ag) in Cold Ethanol Fractions of Human Plasma

Hepatitis B Antigen (HB Ag) has been found in human blood capable of transmitting viral hepatitis. HB Ag and anti‐HB Ag were therefore sought in the cold ethanol fractions of plasma from HB Ag+ patients collected into three different anticoagulant solutions, in fractions from individuals with anti‐complementary plasma containing anti‐HB Ag, and in fractions from large pools of ACD plasma from normal blood donors. HB Ag was present in all Cohn fractions except Fraction II (immune serum globulin, ISG) when prepared from HB Ag+ plasma regardless of the anticoagulant used. Five of eleven production lots of ISG and one of six NSA preparations contained measurable quantities of anti‐HB Ag, but none contained HB Ag.

A second example of the blood type "rhG".

A second example is reported of a blood that is rh′ (C) negative and Rho (D) negative while reacting strongly with anti‐Rho′ (CD) serum.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ANTI-H AND ANTI-OI RED CELL ANTIBODIES.

Both anti-0 and anti-H reagents preferentially agglutinate human group 0 red cells. When this activity is inhibited by H substance (secretor saliva) the serum is said t o contain anti-H; conversely, if not inhibited the serum is said to be anti-0 [7]. The recognition of anti-0 as separate from anti-H sera is of considerable theoretical importance in the search for the determinants of blood group specificity. Also, we have commented on this difference as being of practical importance in blood transfusion [4]. There is evidence that anti-0 destroys group 0 red cells in vivo and anti-H does not. The I blood group system has bearing on specificity in the ABO system. GOLD has described parallels between anti-0, anti-A,, and anti-I [2]. We have examined the relationship between anti-H and anti-I and contrasted this with anti-0 by serologic and in vivo compatibility studies.

Evaluation of Bacterial Contamination in Blood Processing

In the routine deglycerolization of frozen red blood cells, a bottle of solution intended as a final wash (0.8% NaCI, 0.2% dextrose) was found to be abnormally colored and slightly turbid. Close inspection revealed a small crack in the base of the bottle. A pure growth of Klebsiella pneumoniae was cultured. The rabbit pyrogen test on the solution was positive using 2.5 μl as was the limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) test at a dilution of 1:105 for endotoxin. Studies of the growth of this organism are described and the clinical implications are discussed.