What's in a Name: Your PLEX or PEX Is Our TPE.

In the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) guidelines, the abbreviation for therapeutic plasma exchange is standardized as TPE. However, the term PLEX (derived from PLasma EXchange), among others, is not infrequently encountered in clinical practice and in publications. Search queries were performed in PubMed using therapeutic plasma exchange, plasma exchange, "therapeutic plasma exchange," "plasma exchange," TPE plasma, PLEX plasma, PEX plasma, TPE, PLEX, and PEX.

Rh immune globulin immunoprophylaxis after RhD-positive red cell exposure in RhD-negative patients via transfusion: A survey of practices.

Background: Current Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB) standards require transfusion services to have a policy on Rh immune globulin (RhIG) immunoprophylaxis for when RhD-negative patients are exposed to RhD-positive red cells. This is a survey of AABB-accredited transfusion services in the United States (US) regarding institutional policies and practices on RhIG immunoprophylaxis after RhD-negative patients receive RhD-positive (i.e.

Continued Positive Job Search Experience for New Pathologists Seeking First Employment During the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020-2022).

Context.—: As pathologists retire and leave the field, it is critical to accurately capture employment trends for new-in-practice pathologists. There is always interest in the job market for newly graduated pathology trainees and prospective pathology trainees, but it is unclear how the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected the job search experience.

Leadership perspectives on osteopathic medical school applicants to pathology residency training.

The number of graduating allopathic (MD) medical students matching into pathology has declined in recent years, while the number of osteopathic (DO) medical students has increased modestly, given the rapid expansion of osteopathic medical schools. Nonscholarly publications and materials on the internet often perpetuate negative perceptions of osteopathic physicians. Anecdotally, perspectives exist that some pathology residency programs are not DO-friendly; however, the reasons and how widespread an effect this might be are unclear.

How influential are medical school curriculum and other medical school characteristics in students' selecting pathology as a specialty?

There has been a significant decline in the number of United States allopathic medical students matching to pathology residency programs. Data acquired from the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) show sustained variation in the medical school production of students who go on to pathology residency. When divided into groups based on the medical school's historical volume of graduates entering pathology, the schools in groups labeled Group 1 and Group 2 produced significantly higher and lower proportions of pathology residents, respectively.

Experiential exposure as the key to recruiting medical students into pathology.

Medical student interest and pursuit of a career in pathology have been steadily declining since 2015. We conducted three separate surveys of medical students to better understand these trends. In our first survey, we focused on assessing U.

Successful treatment of pure red cell aplasia using therapeutic plasma exchange after ABO-incompatible hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCTs) are widely used in the treatment of hematologic malignancies and bone marrow failure syndromes. ABO compatibility is typically of secondary importance, and up to 50% of HSCT are performed in ABO-incompatible pairings. In the literature, pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) occurs in 1% to 50% of all major/bidirectional ABO-incompatible stem cell transplants, but treatment of PRCA remains heterogeneous.

Factors influencing US osteopathic medical students to choose pathology as a specialty.

The decline in the number of US allopathic (Medical Doctor or M.D.) medical students matching to pathology residency has been a topic of much discussion at national pathology professional society meetings and in recent publications.

Obstetric and Newborn Weak D-Phenotype RBC Testing and Rh Immune Globulin Management Recommendations: Lessons From a Blinded Specimen-Testing Survey of 81 Transfusion Services.

Context.—: Modern RHD genotyping can be used to determine when patients with serologic weak D phenotypes have RHD gene variants at risk for anti-D alloimmunization. However, serologic testing, RhD interpretations, and laboratory management of these patients are quite variable.

Optimizing Utilization of Blood Products in the Hematologic Malignancy Clinic: Less Is More.

Purpose: There are no universal guidelines for blood product transfusions in patients with hematologic malignancies (HMs). Excess utilization of platelet and RBC transfusion in patients with HM increases the cost of care and likelihood of adverse events. We aim to decrease the total number of transfused units and multiunit orders of platelets and RBCs in the HM clinic by 25% from March 2020 to December 2020.

Therapeutic plasma exchange in patients with severe obesity (BMI >40): A survey of practices in the United States.

Background: The prevalence of obesity in the United States is estimated at 42.4% and expected to increase over the next decade. Therefore, understanding how to best perform certain medical procedures on severely obese (SO) patients is a necessity.

The role of therapeutic plasma exchange in clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis with MDA-5 antibody: A case report and review of the literature.

Clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) is a rare, aggressive variant of dermatomyositis associated with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and refractoriness to immunosuppressants. Antibodies against melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA-5) are often found in patients with CADM. We report a patient with advanced CADM with ILD and MDA-5 antibodies who failed to improve with immunosuppressants.

How do I…perform therapeutic phlebotomy?

Background: Therapeutic phlebotomy (TP) is a well-established medical intervention that evolved from the historical practice of bloodletting.

Methods: Patients who require TP are not infrequently told by their health-care providers to "just go donate blood," but TP should always be offered in the context of a prescribed course of therapy. Providers can prescribe a course of TP for a number of indications, including hereditary hemochromatosis, polycythemia vera, iron overload, and testosterone replacement therapy.

Correlating Transfusion Medicine In-Service Examination Scores With Outcomes of the American Board of Pathology Transfusion Medicine Subspecialty Certifying Examination.

Objectives: The Transfusion Medicine In-Service Examination (TMISE) is offered twice a year to transfusion medicine (TM) fellows. We examined the relationship between TMISE scores and outcomes of the American Board of Pathology (ABP) TM subspecialty certifying examination (TM boards).

Methods: TM fellowship programs were contacted to provide anonymous data about TM fellows, their scores on TMISE, and outcome of TM boards.

Dilution is not the solution: acute hemolytic transfusion reaction after ABO-incompatible pooled platelet transfusion.

The short shelf life of platelets makes providing ABO-compatible platelets a challenge, and many institutions issue ABO-incompatible platelets when compatible units are not available. It is presumed that ABO antibodies that exist in donor plasma are diluted when platelets from multiple donors are combined to make a pooled product for transfusion. We present a case of a hemolytic transfusion reaction in a 73-year-old man with myelodysplastic syndrome who received an ABO-incompatible pooled platelet unit.