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To determine the characteristics of blood donors in western Venezuela, we collected data from 1983 to 1985 on 31,320 volunteer donors at the Blood Bank of the State of Zulia in Maracaibo. Fifty-nine percent of the donors were blood group O, 30 percent were group A, 9 percent were group B, and 2 percent were group AB. Most of the donors (93%) were Rh positive. One percent of donors had positive reactions to hepatitis B surface antigen, 3.15 percent for syphilis, 1.43 percent for antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi, and 0.32 percent to human immunodeficiency virus antibodies. About one-half of the donors were between 18 and 30 years old, and only 10 percent were women. To determine if iron deficiency anemia was a cause for the small size of the female donor pool, we measured serum ferritin in 50 first-time female donors. Ten of these (20%) had serum ferritin values below normal, and the distribution of serum ferritin levels of all 50 was very similar to that reported for frequent donors in Europe and the United States, with a clustering of ferritin values between 10 and 70 ng per ml. The data indicate that blood donors in western Venezuela are markedly different from those in the United States and that iron supplementation may be indicated for female Venezuelan donors.

Refractory status epilepticus is commonly defined as status epilepticus that fails to respond to two or more appropriately dosed intravenous anti-seizure medications including at least one non-benzodiazepine drug. Super-refractory status epilepticus (SRSE) is when status epilepticus continues for ≥24 h despite anesthetic treatment or recurs on an attempted wean of the anesthetic drugs. There is little evidence to guide the management of SRSE. Of late, unconventional therapies have been described in the literature regarding the management of SRSE, with ketamine leading the pack. Studies have noted ketamine's therapeutic efficacy up to 91% in SRSE cessation. Common side effects of ketamine include nausea, vomiting, headache, and hallucinations; but to our knowledge, ketamine has not been implicated in the pathogenesis of abdominal compartment syndrome. We describe a 74-year-old male who developed severe abdominal compartment syndrome in the setting of ketamine infusion for new-onset SRSE to increase awareness about this potential complication.

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