Histoblood groups other than HLA in organ transplantation.

Immunological matching of a living related donor and recipient of an allograft is precise, but for cadaver organs matching is controversial, including at least detection of specific sensitization in the recipient against the donor, especially for HLA-DR. With the publication of some cases of ABO histoblood group incompatible transplantations with favorable outcomes, transplantation immunologists now focus on many of the 29 International Society of Blood Transfusion-approved histoblood group systems. So far, research lags behind knowledge about which system occurs in which organ, but modern molecular biology tests, like basic local alignment search tools (BLAST) and the recent inclusion of some systems into the CD classification, make possible the tracking of some histoblood group epitopes to specific tissue components.

Cost-effectiveness of solvent/detergent-treated fresh-frozen plasma.

Background And Objectives: Although transfusion-transmitted infections are rare, non-infectious complications occur relatively frequently. Solvent/detergent-treated fresh-frozen plasma (SD-FFP) has been shown to reduce the frequency of both types of complication, although previous economic evaluations failed to consider non-infective events and subsequently underestimated the benefits of SD-FFP.

Materials And Methods: A time-series analytical model was used to estimate the incremental cost/life year saved for SD-FFP compared with untreated FFP, having controlled for post-transfusion mortality and patient age.

[Type and Screen: immunohematological safety is ensured and costs are lowered].

Unlabelled: TYPE AND SCREEN: (T + S) means: no routine cross match before transfusion. ABO- and Rh-(Blgr) blood groups (type) are done and irregular allo-antibodies are sought (screen). If screen is negative, instant saline test (IST) or Blgr control, and if screen is positive, conventional cross match is done.