Publications by authors named "Giovanni Garozzo"

Background: Hemoglobinopathies are a group of diseases that include those due to globin gene mutations, such as thalassemia major (TM) and thalassemia intermedia (TI) or due to alteration of hemoglobin structure such as sickle cell disease (SCD), as well as a combination of these conditions such as thalasso-drepanocytosis (TD). They constitute the most frequent hereditary anemias requiring blood transfusion.

Materials And Methods: In April 2022, a questionnaire was sent to the Transfusion Services (TS) of Sicily, Sardinia and the Maltese National Blood Transfusion (MNBT) service.

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Background: Transfusion therapy remains the main treatment for patients with severe haemoglobinopathies, but can cause adverse reactions which may be classified as immediate or delayed. The use of targeted prevention with drugs and treatments of blood components in selected patients can contribute to reducing the development of some reactions.The aim of our study was to develop an algorithm capable of guiding behaviours to adopt in order to reduce the incidence of immediate transfusion reactions.

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Background: In 2006 in Italy 2,404,267 donations of blood components were made by 1,539,454 donors; approximately 55% of the donations were collected directly by Transfusion Structures (TS), while about 45% were collected in Donation Centres managed by Associations and Federations of Donors. The aim of the READ (Rilevamento Eventi Avversi alla Donazione) project is to create a network of TS to test a standardised system for monitoring adverse events (AE) related to blood donations.

Materials And Methods: Shared, standardised data collection forms, compatible with the forms produced by the ISBT-EHN, were prepared.

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Background: One of the most serious risks of blood transfusions is an error in ABO blood group compatibility, which can cause a haemolytic transfusion reaction and, in the most severe cases, the death of the patient. The frequency and type of errors observed suggest that these are inevitable, in that mistakes are inherent to human nature, unless significant changes, including the use of computerised instruments, are made to procedures.

Methods: In order to identify patients who are candidates for the transfusion of blood components and to guarantee the traceability of the transfusion, the Securblood system (BBS srl) was introduced.

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Background: Blood and apheresis donations are widely considered to be safe with a low incidence of adverse reactions and injuries; however, data reported in the medical literature on the prevalence of adverse events in donors and studies on the predictive risk factors for donor reactions are limited and contradictory.

Methods: From January 2002 to December 2006 we recorded every adverse reaction verified during 240,596 consecutive blood and apheresis donations (183,855 homologous whole blood donations, 6,669 autologous whole blood donations, 38,647 plasmapheresis, 2,641 plateletpheresis and 8,784 multicomponent donations) at the Italian Transfusion Centres of Verona and Ragusa,.

Results: Using a special, pre-arranged form within the quality system, a total of 686 adverse reactions (related to 0.

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Background: We analysed the relationship between baseline haemoglobin levels and the need for post-operative blood transfusion in our patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate and optimize the pre-operative autologous blood donation (PABD) program at our hospital through a constant audit.

Materials And Methods: Between January 1997 and December 2006 we evaluated 1198 consecutive patients who underwent elective, unilateral, primary total hip or knee arthroplasty and who met our inclusion criteria.

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Background: The aim of this study was to compare the routine use of two automated systems (OrthoAutoVue Innova, microcolumn, and Immucor Galileo, solid phase) for the screening and identification of irregular red blood cell alloantibodies in samples, analysed in our Transfusion Service during 6 months of normal activity. The study focused particularly on an evaluation of the repeatability of the screening tests, the identification of antibody specificities and the identification of antibodies in samples showing discordant results.

Materials And Methods: Overall 2,229 samples from potential blood donors (A), multiply transfused patients with blood disorders (DH), potential transfusion recipients (TS), and external cases (E) were studied.

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We tracked the results of 394 manual or automatic red blood cell exchanges done with a cell separator in 20 sickle cell patients at high risk for recurrent complications. Over an average of 6 years, none of the patients developed complications related to the procedure or to the increased blood use. It was safe and effective in preventing complications of sickle cell disease, and if done automatically, reduced iron overload.

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The hepatic peptide hepcidin is the key regulator of iron metabolism in mammals. Recent evidence indicates that certain forms of hereditary hemochromatosis are caused by hepcidin deficiency. Juvenile hemochromatosis is associated with hepcidin or hemojuvelin mutations, and these patients have low or absent urinary hepcidin.

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Two Italian subjects, aged three and sixteen years, presented with early iron overload as shown by increased serum iron indices and hepatic iron concentration. They both carried the Y250X mutation of the TFR2 gene in the homozygous state. We suggest that transferrin receptor-2 is important in maintaining iron balance in the first decades of life.

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The use of cell separators in multicomponent collection (MCC) makes it possible to use donors effectively by personalising the donation on the basis of their haemotological and physical profiles and thereby standardising the product. We have applied the selection parameters currently used in our collection centre to 6687 donors using a common software programme for all: 57.6% were eligible for the various forms of MCC, although our parameters are even stricter than those required by law.

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The aim of this study was to analyze the role of HFE mutations in blood donors with iron parameters suggesting iron overload, taking into account the regional distribution of HFE mutations in Italy. We studied 5880 subjects undergoing evaluation for blood donation eligibility, from different areas of Italy. Abnormal iron parameters were defined as transferrin saturation (TS) >50% or >45% and serum ferritin (SF) >300 or >250 microg/ml in males and females, respectively.

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Deferiprone has been suggested as an effective oral chelation therapy for thalassemia major. To assess its clinical efficacy, we compared deferiprone with deferoxamine in a large multicenter randomized clinical trial. One-hundred forty-four consecutive patients with thalassemia major and serum ferritin between 1500 and 3000 ng/ml were randomly assigned to deferiprone (75 mg/kg/day) (n = 71) or deferoxamine (50 mg/kg/day) (n = 73) for 1 year.

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