Washed RBCs prevent recurrent acute hypotensive transfusion reactions.

Objectives: To examine whether a liver transplant patient, who was not taking an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and developed two episodes of hypotension with systolic pressure in the 50s within minutes of starting an RBC transfusion, may have had a disturbance in the production and metabolism of bradykinin and des-Arg(9)-BK.

Methods: All patient information was obtained by reviewing the electronic medical record, the transfusion service database, and transfusion reaction investigation records.

Results: The blood pressure returned to normal once the transfusions were discontinued.

Establishing an antigen-negative red blood cell inventory in a hospital-based blood bank.

Background: Our blood bank is part of a large academic institution with an active sickle cell anemia program. We provide sickle patients with blood phenotypically matched for C/c, E/e, and K antigens. Since licensed reagents are available for phenotyping C/c, E/e, and K on an automated blood analyzer, we decided to evaluate whether establishing our own inventory of blood negative for those antigens would result in cost savings and decreased turnaround time (TAT).