1.
Hemostatic efficacy of pathogen-inactivated- versus untreated- platelets: a randomized controlled trial
van der Meer P F, Ypma P F, van Geloven N, van Hilten J A, van Wordragen-Vlaswinkel R J, Eissen O, Zwaginga J J, Trus M, Beckers E A M, Te Boekhorst P, et al
Blood. 2018;132((2):):223-231
Abstract
Pathogen inactivation of platelet concentrates reduces the risk of blood-borne infections. However, its effect on platelet function and hemostatic efficacy of transfusion is unclear. We conducted a randomized noninferiority trial comparing the efficacy of pathogen inactivated platelets using riboflavin and ultraviolet B illumination technology (intervention) compared to standard plasma-stored platelets (control) for the prevention of bleeding in patients with hematologic malignancies and thrombocytopenia. The primary outcome parameter was the proportion of transfusion treatment periods in which the patient had grade 2 or higher bleeding as defined by World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Between November 2010 and April 2016, 469 unique patients were randomized to 567 transfusion treatment periods (283 in the control arm, 284 in the intervention arm). There was a 3% absolute difference in grade ≥ 2 bleeding in the intention-to-treat analysis: 51% of the transfusion treatment periods in the control arm and 54% in the intervention arm (95% CI -6 to 11, p-value for noninferiority 0.012). In the per-protocol analysis, however, difference in grade ≥ 2 bleeding was 8%: 44% in the control arm and 52% in the intervention arm (95% CI -2 to 18, p-value for noninferiority 0.19). Transfusion increment parameters were about 50% lower in the intervention arm. There was no difference in the proportion of patients developing HLA class I alloantibodies. In conclusion, the noninferiority criterion for pathogen inactivated platelets was met in the intention-to-treat analysis. This finding was not demonstrated in the per protocol analysis. (The Netherlands National Trial Registry number: NTR2106).
2.
Effect of blood donor characteristics on transfusion outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Chasse M, McIntyre L, English SW, Tinmouth A, Knoll G, Wolfe D, Wilson K, Shehata N, Forster A, van Walraven C, et al
Transfusion Medicine Reviews. 2016;30((2):):69-80
Abstract
Optimal selection of blood donors is critical for ensuring the safety of blood products. The current selection process is concerned principally with the safety of the blood donor at the time of donation and of the recipient at the time of transfusion. Recent evidence suggests that the characteristics of the donor may affect short- and long-term transfusion outcomes for the transfused recipient. We conducted a systematic review with the primary objective of assessing the association between blood donor characteristics and red blood cell (RBC) transfusion outcomes. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central databases and performed manual searches of top transfusion journals for all available prospective and retrospective studies. We described study characteristics, methodological quality, and risk of bias and provided study-level effect estimates and, when appropriate, pooled estimates with 95% confidence intervals using the Mantel-Haenszel or inverse variance approach. The overall quality of the evidence was graded using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. From 6121 citations identified by our literature search, 59 studies met our eligibility criteria (50 observational, 9 interventional). We identified the evaluation of association of 17 donor characteristics on RBC transfusion outcome. The risk of bias and confounding of the included studies was high. The quality of evidence was graded as very low to low for all 17 donor characteristics. Potential associations were observed for donor sex with reduced survival at 90 days and 6 months in male recipients that receive donated blood from females (hazard ratio 2.60 [1.09, 6.20] and hazard ratio 2.40 [1.10, 5.24], respectively; n = 1), Human Leukocyte Antigen - antigen D Related (HLA-DR) selected transfusions (odds ratio [OR] 0.39 [0.15, 0.99] for the risk of transplant alloimmunization, n = 9), presence of antileukocyte antibodies (OR 5.84 [1.66, 20.59] for risk of transfusion-related acute lung injury, n = 4), and donor RBC antigens selection (OR 0.20 [0.08, 0.52] for risk of alloimmunization, n = 4). Based on poor quality evidence, positive antileukocyte antibodies, female donor to male recipients, HLA-DR selected RBC transfusion, or donor RBC antigen selection may affect RBC transfusion outcome. Our findings that donor characteristics may be associated with transfusion outcomes warrant establishing vein-to-vein data infrastructure to allow for large robust evaluations. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42013006726.