Splitting apheresis platelets as a contingency measure for inventory shortages.

Background: Splitting apheresis platelet (PLT) units increase available inventory during shortages. The impact of prolonged storage in gas-impermeable aliquot bags on PLT quality in vitro and transfusion outcomes in patients remains uncertain.

Study Design And Methods: We assessed in vitro PLT quality and thromboelastography (TEG) in PLTs stored for 8 or 24 h in aliquot bags compared with baseline (T0).

Reevaluation of the medical necessity of washed red blood cell transfusion in chronically transfused adults.

Background: Washing red blood cell (RBC) units mitigates severe allergic transfusion reactions. However, washing reduces the time to expiration and the effective dose. Automated washing is time- and labor-intensive.

A rapid, point-of-care red blood cell agglutination assay detecting antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant morbidity and mortality. There is an urgent need for serological tests to detect antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, which could be used to assess past infection, evaluate responses to vaccines in development, and determine individuals who may be protected from future infection. Current serological tests developed for SARS-CoV-2 rely on traditional technologies such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and lateral flow assays, which have not scaled to meet the demand of hundreds of millions of antibody tests so far.

Isohemagglutinin titering performed on an automated solid-phase and hemagglutinin-based analyzer is comparable to results obtained by manual gel testing.

Background: Isohemagglutinins (anti-A and anti-B) mediate hemolytic transfusion reactions, antibody-mediated rejection of solid-organ transplants, and delayed engraftment after stem cell transplant. However, quantification of isohemagglutinins is often labor intensive and operator dependent, limiting availability and interfacility comparisons. We evaluated an automated, solid-phase and agglutination-based antibody titer platform versus manual gel testing.