by Joe Chaffin | Mar 21, 2016
Glossary Infectious Disease Testing A set of tests to screen for potential (“relevant,” to use FDA terminology) transfusion-transmitted diseases required for every allogeneic blood donor. These are the currently required tests (as of the FDA’s...
by Joe Chaffin | Mar 21, 2016
Glossary Minor Crossmatch In contrast to the “major” crossmatch (recipient serum vs. donor red blood cells), the “minor” crossmatch is designed to test opposite compatibility: The donor’s serum/plasma with the recipient’s red cells....
by Joe Chaffin | Mar 21, 2016
Glossary Operational Qualification A part of a validation protocol for a particular piece of equipment, abbreviated “OQ.” This is the part of validation that people associate most with the process. The point of OQ is to test the limits of the equipment...
by Joe Chaffin | Mar 21, 2016
Glossary Partial D Phenotype The main Rh antigen (the one that determines whether a person is “Rh-positive” or “Rh-negative”) is known to blood bankers as the “D” antigen. A gene known as RHD on chromosome 1 codes for this large...
by Joe Chaffin | Mar 21, 2016
Glossary Pathogen Reduction Pathogen reduction is a post-collection blood product manipulation process used for many years in Europe but only relatively recently approved in the United States. A substance is added to platelet and plasma products (not yet red cell...
