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Background: The average hemoglobin content of red cell concentrates (RCC) varies depending on the method of preparation. Surprisingly less data are available concerning the clinical impact of those differences. Study Design and Methods: The effects of two types of RCC (RCC‐A, RCC‐B) on transfusion regime were compared in a non‐blinded, prospective, randomized, two‐period, and crossover clinical trial. RCC‐A was obtained by whole blood leukoreduction and subsequent plasma removal, RCC‐B removing plasma and buffy coat first, followed by leukoreduction. Eligible patients were adult, with transfusion‐dependent thalassemia (TDT). Results: RCC‐A contained 63.9 (60.3–67.8) grams of hemoglobin per unit (median with 1st and 3rd quartile), RCC‐B 54.5 (51.0–58.2) g/unit. Fifty‐one patients completed the study. With RCC‐B, the average pre‐transfusion hemoglobin concentration was 9.3 ± 0.5 g/dl (mean ± SD), the average transfusion interval 14.2 (13.7–16.3) days, the number of RCC units transfused per year 39.3 (35.4–47.3), and the transfusion power index (a composite index) 258 ± 49. With RCC‐A, the average pre‐transfusion hemoglobin concentration was 9.6 ± 0.5 g/dl (+2.7%, effect size 0.792), the average transfusion interval 14.8 (14.0–18.5) days (+4.1%, effect size 0.800), the number of RCC units transfused per year 34.8 (32.1–42.5) (−11.4%, effect size −1.609), and the transfusion power index 272 ± 61 (+14.1%, effect size 0.997). All differences were statistically highly significant (p <.00001). The frequency of transfusion reactions was 0.59% with RCC‐A and 0.56% with RCC‐B (p = 1.000). Conclusion: To reduce the number of RCC units consumed per year and the number of transfusion episodes, TDT patients should receive RCC with the highest average hemoglobin content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The desire for pregnancy in sickle cell disease (SCD) women has become a true challenge for hematologists, requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Erythrocytapheresis (ECP) is an important therapeutic tool in SCD, but only limited data on starting time and the effects of ECP during pregnancy are available.Study Design and Methods: This is a double-center retrospective cross-sectional study on a total of 46 single pregnancies in SCD women from January 2008 to June 2017. ECP was started at 10.7 ± 5.2 weeks of gestation, and prophylactic enoxaparin (4,000 U daily) was introduced due to the reported high prevalence of thromboembolic events in pregnant SCD women.Results: The alloimmunization ratio was 2.1 per 1,000 and the alloimmunization rate was 5.6%. In early ECP-treated SCD women, no severe vaso-occlusive crisis, sepsis or severe infection, or preeclampsia or eclampsia were observed. We found normal umbilical arterial impedance during pregnancy, suggesting an optimal uteroplacental function in early ECP-treated SCD women. This was also supported by the improvement in newborn birthweights compared to previous studies. In our cohort, three SCD women were started later on ECP (20-25 weeks), and gestation ended with late fetal loss. Placenta pathology documented SCD-related damage and erythroblasts in placental vessels, indicating fetal hypoxia.Conclusions: Collectively, our data generate a rationale to support a larger clinical trial of early ECP program in SCD pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In accordance with the study of Levi and colleagues, we found no significant association between blood groups O, B and AB and the susceptibility to acquire SARS-CoV-2 infection. Subjects with blood group O are not at lower risk to acquire SARS-CoV-2 infection Keywords: ABO blood groups; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Rh(D) antigen; coronavirus EN ABO blood groups COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Rh(D) antigen coronavirus 471 472 2 04/15/21 20210401 NES 210401 We read with great interest the article by Levi et al. [1] who failed to find any association between ABO blood group and a previous or current SARS-CoV-2 infection. [Extracted from the article]

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an increasing global health problem and presents significant challenges to European health care systems. Newborn screening (NBS) for SCD enables early initiation of preventive measures and has contributed to a reduction in childhood mortality from SCD. Policies and methodologies for NBS vary in different countries, and this might have consequences for the quality of care and clinical outcomes for SCD across Europe. A two-day Pan-European consensus conference was held in Berlin in April 2017 in order to appraise the current status of NBS for SCD and to develop consensus-based statements on indications and methodology for NBS for SCD in Europe. More than 50 SCD experts from 13 European countries participated in the conference. This paper aims to summarise the discussions and present consensus recommendations which can be used to support the development of NBS programmes in European countries where they do not yet exist, and to review existing programmes., (© 2018 British Society for Haematology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)