Transfusion transmitted infections (TTI) are a great concern of safety for patients. Blood transfusion is a lifesaving procedure but always caries a potential risk of infections.The present study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of infectious disease markers and frequency in males and females of various age groups among healthy blood donors. A retrospective review of donor record over a period of 2 years between 2015 to2016 was done at the department of transfusion medicine Khulna medical college Hospital, Khulna, Bangladesh.Among the total 37,266 donors,358(0.96%) donors were infected and therefore not suitable for blood donations.HBV was found to be the most frequent infection with a total frequency of 0.72% followed by TP (0.20%), HCV (0.03%) and HIV (0.01%). None of the blood samples showed positivity for malarial parasite.Majority of the seropositive donors, (47.96%) were in the age group of 26 to 35 years followed by 29.47% in 18 to 25 years’ age group. Bangladesh Med J. 2017 May; 46 (2): 16-21

Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is an extracorporeal blood purification technique that removes circulating antibodies, toxin and mediators from the plasma of the patients. This study was conducted to assess the safety, type and frequency of complications with regard to the indications and technical aspects of the TPE procedure performed in patients referred with different indications. A total of 127 patients’ clinical data treated with 424 TPE cycles over a period of 6 years from June 2016 to July 2022 at the apheresis unit of the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in Bangladesh, were enrolled in this retrospective observational study. The median age was 35.26 years (range 19–63) with a male predominance. The indications were mostly American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) category I (81.895%) and the most common indications were neurological indications including Guillain–Barré Syndrome (GBS) (61.41%), Myasthenia Gravis (MG) (10.24%) followed by Acute Liver Failure (7.09%). Venous access was established with the femoral vein maintaining blood flow at 70 ml/min using acid citrate-dextrose solution A (ACD-A) anticoagulant. TPE was frontline therapy in 55.91% of the patients. Human albumin was used as a replacement fluid in 88% and fresh frozen plasma in 12% of the cycles. Incidence of procedural complication was 49% (n = 206) and majority of them were mild (n = 191; 45%) with only 3% and 0.47% being moderate and severe, respectively.             Mild complications were hypocalcemia (n = 127; 29.95%), anxiety (n = 109; 25.70%), restlessness (n = 68; 16.04%) and hypotension (n = 46; 10.85%) in albumin group and anxiety (n = 31; 7.31%), hypocalcemia (n = 23; 5.42%), muscle cramp (n = 23; 5.42%) in FFP group. Interestingly, complications were almost similar in albumin and FFP groups except for allergic reactions and mild reactions which were mostly manageable and preventable with continuous, cautious monitoring. Our findings suggest that TPE is a relatively safe procedure and severe complications such as hypotension and anaphylaxis is preventable through continuous and dedicated monitoring by expert personnel.

Haemophilia is one of the most common causes of inherited bleeding disorder resulting from deficiency of coagulation factor VIII or factor IX. Ideally, replacement should be done with factor concentrate. Due to economic constraints associated with its procurement, bleeding episodes are regularly dealt with Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP) or cryoprecipitate in low-resource countries. This study was carried out to compare the utilization profile and clinical characteristics of haemophilia patients receiving FFP and cryoprecipitate for replacing clotting factor deficiency. This cross-sectional comparative study was conducted in the day care unit of the Department of Transfusion Medicine of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University between 2 groups of haemophilia patients receiving either cryoprecipitate or FFP for treatment. Out of the total 100 haemophilia patients, 50 were treated with cryoprecipitate and 50 with FFP. In FFP group, the majority of patients (48% in cryoprecipitate group and 36% in FFP group) were in the age group of more than 5 to 10 years followed by 11 to 15 years age (24% versus 30%) with a mean SD of age in cryoprecipitate group and FFP group being 11.78±5.61 and 13.42±6.12 years, respectively. About 33 (66.0%) had a history of bleeding following trauma and 32 (64.0%) had a history of spontaneous bleeding among the patients in cryoprecipitate group as a cause of swelling/bleeding and in FFP group, 23 (46.0%) had history of spontaneous bleeding followed by 23 (34.0%) with history of bleeding following trauma. Regarding the type of bleeding, oral bleeding was most common, followed by soft tissue bleeding in both group (40.0% versus 38.0%). Presence of ecchymosis in both groups was statistically significant. The difference in type of haemophilia between the two groups was statistically significant (p<0.001) with a prevalence of haemophilia A of about 88%. The life expectancy of haemophilia patients is increasing dramatically day by day with successful and effective treatment with the appropriate plasma component. Cryoprecipitate is better than FFP as there is less chance of volume overload minimizing leucocyte induced non-haemolytic febrile transfusion reaction and rapid correction of coagulation factor.

Background: The ABO blood group exhibits a blood cell surface protein and an endothelial cell-associated Willebrand factor, and there is evidence that the blood type of individuals can determine the risk of thrombosis in advance. Due to the importance and high prevalence of coronary artery disease, the association between myocardial infarction and ABO blood groups has not been proven, and there are even controversial. Results.  Aims: To determine the relationship between the ABO blood group and acute myocardial infarction. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out at the department of Transfusion Medicine, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka. A total of 384 patients with a history of infarction as the sample. Purposive sampling was applied for the selection of data. The collected data were organized and analyzed using SPSS-22. Results: Mean age was 54.34±17.26 years, from 25-73 years. Most of the patients, 182 (47.4%) within the 45-65 age group. More than one-third of patients, 295 (76.8%), were male, and 89 (23.2%) patients were female; the male: female ratio was near about 3:1. The association of blood group between STEMI and NSTEMI patients in males and females patients was not statistically significant (p>0.05). However, the prevalence of MI in blood group O is more significantly associated with NSTEMI and STEMI patients than in all other ABO blood groups. Conclusion: The study shows the relation between the ABO blood group and MI, where patients with the O group are more prone to STEMI and NSTEMI. TAJ 2022; 35: No-2: 125-131

There is much evidence that the ABO blood group system may play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease. The relationship between ABO and Rhesus blood groups and cancer risk has been demonstrated in many research works. However, concerning gynaecological malignancies, these findings are inconsistent. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of ABO and Rh-D blood groups in patients with carcinoma cervix. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Department of Gynaecological Oncology and Department of Pathology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka. A total of 110 clinically suspected cervical cancer patients were included in this study. Pap smear tests was done in all cases and the patients were divided into case (Pap test positive) and control group (Pap test negative). A total of 55 patients were included in each group. Blood groups (ABO & Rh-D) of all the patients were recorded. A higher number of the patients in the cervical cancer group were multiparous than in the control group. Almost in two-thirds of the population, the age of marriage was <18 years in the cervical cancer group compared to 34.5% in the control group. More than one-third population had “O” blood group in the case group, while it was 31% in the control group. The almost equal number had Rh D+ve in the case and control (92.7% vs. 94.5%). The differences between the blood group and Rh D were not statistically significant between the two groups. Nearly half (40.0%) of the participants had used a hormonal contraceptive in the case and 61.8% in control. The differences in hormonal contraceptives use were statistically significant within the two groups. The distribution of “O” blood group and Rh D +ve cases was found to be higher in patients with cervical cancer than in non-cancer patients although the difference was not statistically significant. BSMMU J 2022; 15(2): 70-74