Publications by authors named "Allison Mo"

Purpose Of Review: Platelet transfusions, used as prophylaxis or treatment for bleeding, are potentially life-saving. In many countries, demand for platelet transfusion is rising. Platelets are a limited and costly resource, and it is vital that they are used appropriately.

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Background: Implicit bias may prevent patients with abdominal pain from receiving optimal workup and treatment. We hypothesized that patients from socially disadvantaged backgrounds would be more likely to experience delays in receiving operative treatment for cholecystitis. To study this question, we examined factors related to having a prior emergency department presentation for abdominal pain (prior emergency department visit) within 3 months of urgent cholecystectomy.

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ABO-non-identical (ni) platelets provide less of an increase in platelet count and may increase the length of patient transfusions. The paper by Han and Badami showed that ABO-ni platelets may be a risk factor for immune platelet transfusion refractoriness. Commentary on: Han et al.

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Article Synopsis
  • Anemia in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) negatively impacts their quality of life, and the study aims to assess if weekly low-dose red blood cell (RBC) transfusions could stabilize hemoglobin levels and improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) compared to the standard transfusion schedule.
  • This n-of-1 pilot study involves two treatment arms where patients receive either their usual transfusion schedule or a personalized weekly transfusion, with the effectiveness measured through feasibility, HRQoL, physical function, and RBC usage.
  • The trial is ongoing in multiple countries, highlighting differences in RBC provision practices and aiming to gather insights that will shape a larger study on the potential benefits of personalized transfusion
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Aim: Thrombocytopenia and bleeding are common in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), but optimal management is unknown. We conducted a survey to identify current clinical practice regarding platelet transfusion (PLT-T) and tranexamic acid (TXA) to inform future trial design.

Method: A 25-question survey was distributed to members of the ALLG from December 2020 to July 2021.

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Anemia is common in Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS). Different anemia treatments have been tested in clinical studies, but the full impact on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and physical function is unknown. The main aim of this review was to assess whether improvements in anemia are associated with changes in HRQoL/physical function.

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Objectives: This study aimed to describe the burden of thrombocytopenia, supportive care practices, bleeding complications and predictors of bleeding in MDS patients within a large Australian hospital network, to better understand the use and effectiveness of platelet transfusions in MDS.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of patients aged ≥18 years with MDS, chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia or MDS/myeloproliferative overlap neoplasm admitted from 2016 to 2018 was conducted. Data were obtained from hospital medical records.

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A pregnant woman in her 20s presented with an excessive desire to smell a specific household cleaning product. She was found to have severe iron deficiency anaemia and her symptoms resolved following intravenous iron supplementation. She described symptoms of fatigue, shortness of breath and olfactory cravings.

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Elderly patients may be heterogeneous in their abilities to tolerate immunochemotherapy-associated toxicities. We describe the morbidity of rituximab-chemotherapy combinations among 205 newly-diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients aged ≥60 years from 3 tertiary hospitals between 2009 and 2016, and explore the utility of retrospectively-assigned baseline Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) in predicting these toxicities. Seventy-three percent (146/201) experienced grade ≥3 toxicities, 81% (163/201) needed admission, 52% (107/205) had ≥2 unplanned admissions, 82/201 (41%) required dose reductions (DR) subsequent to Cycle 1, 39/166 (23%) had chemotherapy delays and 26/198 (13%) ceased therapy early.

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Neighborhood psychosocial stressors like crime and physical disorder may influence obesity-related outcomes through chronic stress or through adverse effects on health behaviors. Google Street View imagery provides a low-cost, reliable method for auditing neighborhood physical disorder, but few studies have examined associations of Street View-derived physical disorder scores with health outcomes. We used Google Street View to audit measures of physical disorder for residential census blocks from 225 women aged 18⁻44 enrolled from 4 Chicago neighborhoods.

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Background: Preoperative anaemia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in surgical patients. Recent national patient blood management guideline recommended screening surgical patients for anaemia, particularly iron deficiency anaemia, without reference to the prevalence of anaemia or iron deficiency anaemia in this patient population.

Aims: To establish the prevalence and cause of preoperative anaemia in elective major surgery patients.

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Background: Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is a rare and life-threatening disorder, resulting from thrombosis of the hepatic veins. Various treatments, including pharmacological, radiological and surgical interventions, have been used.

Aim: To describe retrospectively our institution's experience with management of patients with BCS.

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Optimal red cell transfusion thresholds in myelodysplastic syndrome are not established. In this survey of 110 Australasian haematologists' practice in myelodysplastic syndrome-related anaemia, 92% of respondents set transfusion thresholds, and would typically transfuse at a haemoglobin <80 g/L aiming for a post-transfusion haemoglobin 90-100 g/L, reflecting a restrictive transfusion strategy. Higher thresholds were typically used for patients with cardiovascular disease or anaemia symptoms.

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The aim of the study was to determine the molecular cause of dysfibrinogenaemia in a woman with a prolonged thrombin time. Functional fibrinogen abnormalities can be benign or may lead to bleeding or thrombotic conditions. In complex cases, phenotypes may be acquired or involve interplay between several coinherited mutations.

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Cell viability depends on the stable transmission of genetic information to each successive generation. Therefore, in the event of intrinsic or extrinsic DNA damage, it is important that cell division be delayed until DNA repair has been completed. In Bacillus subtilis, this is accomplished in part by YneA, an inhibitor of division that is induced as part of the SOS response.

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