What’s new with Low-titer Group O Whole Blood? Dr. Mark Yazer returns to give us the latest.
Dr. Mark Yazer
So What’s New?
Since our previous interview, more data and experience are available to guide the use of whole blood for trauma transfusion. Dr. Yazer discusses why crystalloids are now frowned upon by trauma transfusion experts, updates us on the use of group A plasma in emergency transfusions, then takes a deep dive into the most up-to-date data on LTOWB in trauma transfusion. After this interview, you will understand much more about why so many trauma surgeons are excited about whole blood! There just might be a few hockey references in there, too!
Thanks to CBBS!
This interview was recorded for the California Blood Bank Society’s Annual Meeting, held virtually May 21-22, 2021. I am grateful to CBBS, and especially to Elizabeth Cardwell (Executive Director), Dr. James Burner (CBBS President) and Dr. Suchi Pandey (incoming CBBS President) for allowing me to use this recording. If you live in California, you should join CBBS! If you don’t, you should really think about it (and they did not pay me anything to say so!).
Dr. Mark Yazer
So What’s New?
Since our previous interview, more data and experience are available to guide the use of whole blood for trauma transfusion. Dr. Yazer discusses why crystalloids are now frowned upon by trauma transfusion experts, updates us on the use of group A plasma in emergency transfusions, then takes a deep dive into the most up-to-date data on LTOWB in trauma transfusion. After this interview, you will understand much more about why so many trauma surgeons are excited about whole blood! There just might be a few hockey references in there, too!
Thanks to CBBS!
This interview was recorded for the California Blood Bank Society’s Annual Meeting, held virtually May 21-22, 2021. I am grateful to CBBS, and especially to Elizabeth Cardwell (Executive Director), Dr. James Burner (CBBS President) and Dr. Suchi Pandey (incoming CBBS President) for allowing me to use this recording. If you live in California, you should join CBBS! If you don’t, you should really think about it (and they did not pay me anything to say so!).
About My Guest:
Dr. Mark Yazer graduated from medical school at the University of Ottawa in 2000 and completed his residency in hematological pathology at the University of Alberta in 2004. He is currently a Professor of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh, and an associate medical director of the centralized transfusion service in Pittsburgh. He is also an adjunct Professor of Clinical Immunology at the University of Southern Denmark, and a visiting Professor of Pathology at Tel Aviv University. He has published over 250 peer reviewed papers, and is an associate editor of the journals Transfusion Medicine and Hematology. He is on the editorial board of 4 other journals. He is the co-chairman of the THOR-AABB working group. He has received grant funding from the American National Institutes of Health, the American Department of Defense, and the American military based DARPA group. He is currently a co-principal investigator of NIH R01 and R34 grants and is a collaborator on two Department of Defense grants.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed on this episode are those of my guest and I alone, and do not reflect those of the organizations with which either of us is affiliated. Neither Dr. Yazer nor I have any relevant financial disclosures.
Further Reading:
- PAMPer Trial: Sperry JL et al. Prehospital Plasma during Air Medical Transport in Trauma Patients at Risk for Hemorrhagic Shock. N Engl J Med 2018;379:315-326
- STAT Study: Dunbar NM and Yazer MT on behalf of the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative and the STAT Study Investigators. Safety of the use of group A plasma in trauma: the STAT study. Transfusion 2017;57:1879-1884.
- MENGO Study: Seheult JN et al. Transfusion of blood components containing ABO-incompatible plasma does not lead to higher mortality in civilian trauma patients. Transfusion 2020;60:2517-2528
- Yazer MH et al. It is time to reconsider the risks of transfusing RhD negative females of childbearing potential with RhD positive red blood cells in bleeding emergencies. Transfusion 2019;59:3794
Thanks to:
- Samantha Chaffin, Design and content consultant
Music Credit
Music for this episode includes “Cuando te invade el temor” and “Reflejo,” both by Mar Virtual via the Free Music Archive. Click the image below for permissions and license details.
Do you measure IgM, IgG, or both when determining if a unit is low titer. If only measuring IgM, what is the rationale not for “worrying” about of IgG anti-A (or anti-B)?
Thanks for another great discussion.