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).

The management of anticoagulation in patients undergoing therapeutic plasma exchange: A concise review.

We surveyed multiple apheresis centers represented by the authors for their clinical approach to the management of anticoagulation issues during therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE). We present the results of their practices and a review of the pertinent literature. As plasma is removed during TPE, replacement with all or partial non-plasma-containing fluids (eg, 5% albumin) may lead to significant changes in hemostasis.

Transfusion-Transmitted Babesia microti.

Because testing of donors for Babesia microti has become available, it is important to determine the kinds of patients who should receive B microti-tested blood. We searched PubMed, AABB abstracts, and FDA Web site to identify all cases of transfusion-transmitted babesiosis (TTB). Cases were analyzed for underlying medical condition, age, presence of spleen, and reason for transfusion in relation to 5 classes of recipient outcome severity.

Isolation and characterization of "Pseudomonas andersonii" from four cases of pulmonary granulomas and emended species description.

"Pseudomonas andersonii" is a Gram-negative bacillus initially isolated from a granulomatous lung lesion. Novel species status has not been validated for this single strain. We report four additional cases of pulmonary granuloma involving P.