Warm autoantibodies can be tough challenges. Two physician experts share some best practices to help guide your practices.

Drs Alyssa Ziman and Meghan Delaney

Patients with warm autoantibodies always seem to appear at the worst times! To those of us working in blood banks, navigating the path from discovery of the antibody to a safe transfusion is fraught with challenges.

They Did Their “BEST”

Drs Alyssa Ziman and Meghan Delaney (in cooperation with the excellent folks at the BEST Collaborative) decided to do something to make the pathway clearer a few years ago. They embarked on a multi-year journey to discover, through a massive literature search as well as a survey of practices in numerous facilities, what people around the world are actually doing to evaluate warm autoantibodies and get to the place where a transfusion can occur that is as safe as possible. Their findings, published in a 2017 Transfusion article and a 2020 Vox Sanguinis article (see below for links), will show you tools and practices that will help you, no matter the size of your hospital. They are both here today to discuss their major findings and learning lessons from the papers.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed here are just that, opinions. This educational podcast interview is not a medical consultation nor is it meant to represent the only possible options available. Please follow the guidance of local transfusion experts and regulations.

Drs Alyssa Ziman and Meghan Delaney

They Did Their “BEST”

Drs Alyssa Ziman and Meghan Delaney (in cooperation with the excellent folks at the BEST Collaborative) decided to do something to make the pathway clearer a few years ago. They embarked on a multi-year journey to discover, through a massive literature search as well as a survey of practices in numerous facilities, what people around the world are actually doing to evaluate warm autoantibodies and get to the place where a transfusion can occur that is as safe as possible. Their findings, published in a 2017 Transfusion article and a 2020 Vox Sanguinis article (see below for links), will show you tools and practices that will help you, no matter the size of your hospital. They are both here today to discuss their major findings and learning lessons from the papers.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed here are just that, opinions. This educational podcast interview is not a medical consultation nor is it meant to represent the only possible options available. Please follow the guidance of local transfusion experts and regulations.

About My Guests:

Dr. Alyssa Ziman is Division Chief of Transfusion Medicine and Medical Director of the Clinical Laboratories at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Chief of Laboratory Medicine, and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She completed her undergraduate studies at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and her medical school studies at the Sackler School of Medicine, University of Tel Aviv. She subsequently completed her anatomic and clinical pathology training, followed by a fellowship in Transfusion Medicine, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Ziman’s research focuses on immunohematology, transfusion practice and patient safety, as well as donor safety and motivating factors in blood donors.

Dr. Meghan Delaney is Chief of the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at Children’s National Health System in Washington, DC, as well as Professor in the Departments of Pathology and Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine. She is board-certified in Clinical Pathology as well as in Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine. Dr. Delaney has authored or co-authored over 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and 18 book chapters, and over 40 abstracts. She speaks all over the world on a wide variety of topics in adult, pediatric, obstetric, and molecular Transfusion Medicine.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed on this episode are those of my guests and I alone, and do not reflect those of the organizations with which either of us is affiliated. Neither my guests nor I have any relevant financial disclosures.

Further Reading:

• 2017 Transfusion Paper: Best Practices: Ziman A et al. Warm-reactive (immunoglobulin G) autoantibodies and laboratory testing best practices: review of the literature and survey of current practice. Transfusion 2017;57;463–477.


• 2020 Vox Sanguinis Paper: Does Matching Help?: Delaney M et al. Red‐blood‐cell alloimmunization and prophylactic antigen matching for transfusion in patients with warm autoantibodies. Vox Sanguinis 2020;115;515–524.

Thanks to:

• Samantha Chaffin, <a href="https://www.schaffin.com/" rel="noopener