210 research outputs found
The management of a blood donor bitten by a snake
No full textThe worldwide burden of snakebite is high and venomous snakes are found in many regions of the world and are a threat to public health. In Italy, for instance, viper bites are an infrequent but not negligible event. Although people who have been bitten by a snake rarely wish to donate blood within a "short" time, it is however important to evaluate their eligibility to donate blood or blood components as their donation could be a problem for donor management, especially if a specific policy is not in place. The aim of this manuscript is to summarise the worldwide existing donor deferral policy for snakebites and to provide some indications in order to facilitate decision-making and to guarantee maximum safety for the donors as well as for the recipients
Contro i nemici della risata : Le stagioni teatrali di Umberto Simonetta al Teatro Gerolamo
No full textDirettore del Teatro Gerolamo fra il 1978 e il 1983, Umberto Simonetta è stato autore, regista e produttore di numerose pièce di successo, fra le quali Sta per venire la rivoluzione e non ho niente da mettermi (con Livia Cerini), Mi voleva Strehler (con Maurizio Micheli), che ha oltre mille repliche all’attivo, Ne ho mangiata troppa (con il figlio adottivo Luca Sandri).Head of the Teatro Gerolamo between 1978 and 1983, Umberto Simonetta was the author, director and producer of numerous successful plays, among which The revolution is about to come and I have nothing to wear (with Livia Cerini), I wanted Strehler (with Maurizio Micheli), who has over a thousand repeats to his credit, I ate too much (with his adopted son Luca Sandri)
How we treat bleeding associated with direct oral anticoagulants
No full textDirect oral anticoagulants are at least as effective as vitamin K antagonists for the prevention and treatment of thromboembolism. Unfortunately, differently from vitamin K antagonists, they have the great drawback of lacking specific antidotes in the case of bleeding or emergency situations such as trauma, stroke requiring thrombolysis, and urgent surgery. The progressive development of antidotes for these new drugs, which, it is hoped, will become available in the near future, will allow better and safer management of the rapid reversal of their anticoagulant effect
Zika virus and the never-ending story of emerging pathogens and transfusion medicine
No full textIn the last few years, the transfusion medicine community has been paying special attention to emerging vector-borne diseases transmitted by arboviruses. Zika virus is the latest of these pathogens and is responsible for major outbreaks in Africa, Asia and, more recently, in previously infection-naïve territories of the Pacific area. Many issues regarding this emerging pathogen remain unclear and require further investigation. National health authorities have adopted different prevention strategies. The aim of this review article is to discuss the currently available, though limited, information and the potential impact of this virus on transfusion medicine
Convalescent plasma. New evidence for an old therapeutic tool?
No full textPassive immunisation for the prevention and treatment of human infectious diseases can be traced back to the 20th century. The recent Ebola virus outbreak
in West Africa has turned the spotlight onto the possible use of convalescent whole blood and convalescent plasma in the treatment of infectious diseases because
they are the only therapeutic strategy available in some cases, given the unavailability of vaccines, drugs or other specific treatments. Convalescent blood products could be a valid option in the treatment/prophylaxis of several infectious diseases both in association with other drugs/preventive measures and as the only therapy
when a specific treatment is not available. However, there are still some issues to consider in determining the advisability of implementing a large-scale convalescent
plasma transfusion programm
Fibrinogen concentrate in surgery
No full textFibrinogen is a plasma glycoprotein synthesised by the liver which plays a critical role in haemostasis by acting as an endogenous substrate for fibrin formation and by inducing clot formation and platelet aggregation
The use of fibrinogen concentrate for the management of trauma-related bleeding. A systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textHaemorrhage following injury is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The role of fibrinogen concentrate in trauma-induced coagulopathy has been the object of intense research in the last 10 years and has been systematically analysed in this review. A systematic search of the literature identified six retrospective studies and one prospective one, involving 1,650 trauma patients. There were no randomised trials. Meta-analysis showed that fibrinogen concentrate has no effect on overall mortality (risk ratio: 1.07, 95% confidence interval: 0.83-1.38). Although the metaanalytic pooling of the current literature evidence suggests no beneficial effect of fibrinogen concentrate in the setting of severe trauma, the quality of data retrieved was poor and the final results of ongoing randomised trials will help to further elucidate the role of fibrinogen concentrate in traumatic bleeding
Leucoreduction of blood components. an effective way to increase blood safety?
No full textOver the past 30 years, it has been demonstrated that removal of white blood cells from blood components is effective in preventing some adverse reactions such as febrile non-haemolytic transfusion reactions, immunisation against human leucocyte antigens and human platelet antigens, and transmission of cytomegalovirus. In this review we discuss indications for leucoreduction and classify them into three categories: evidence-based indications for which the clinical efficacy is proven, indications based on the analysis of observational clinical studies with very consistent results and indications for which the clinical efficacy is partial or unproven
Red blood cell transfusion policy: a critical literature review
No full textThe issue of the most appropriate red blood cell
transfusion policy has been addressed by a number
of randomised controlled trials, conducted over
the last decades, comparing the effects on patients'
outcome of restrictive blood transfusion strategies
(transfusing when the haemoglobin concentration
is less than 7 g/dL to 8 g/dL) vs more liberal ones
(transfusing when the haemoglobin concentration is
less than 9 g/dL to 10 g/dL) in a variety of clinical
settings. In parallel, various systematic reviews and
meta-analyses have tried to perform pooled analyses
of the data from these randomised controlled trials and
their results have been utilised by scientific societies to
provide recommendations and guidelines on red blood
cell transfusion thresholds. All these aspects will be
critically discussed in this narrative revie
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