The appropriate use of blood and blood products means the transfusion of safe blood products only to treat a condition leading to significant morbidity or mortality, which cannot be prevented or managed effectively by other means. The safety and effectiveness of transfusion depend on the appropriate clinical use of blood and blood products. This study was conducted to review the practice of fresh frozen plasma usage (FFP) for transfusion, based on the coagulation profile, requested by various departments in the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM).
Health and disease can only be distinguished by accurate and reliable reference values of a particular laboratory test. It is now a proven fact that there is considerable variation in hematology reference intervals depending on the demographic and preanalytical variables. There are evidences that values provided by manufacturers do not have appropriate application for all populations. Moreover, reference ranges provided by different laboratory manuals and books also do not solve this problem. We are presenting here normal reference ranges of Malaysian population. These values were determined by using Sysmex XE-2100 and ACL 9000 hematology and coagulation analyzers. Results from this study showed that there were considerable differences in the reference values from manufacturers, western population or laboratory manuals compared with those from the local population.
Haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn (HDFN) is caused by maternal red blood cells (RBC) alloimmunisation resulted from incompatibility of maternal and foetal RBCs. However, only a few HDFN attributed to anti-M were reported, varying from asymptomatic to severe anaemia with hydrops foetalis and even intrauterine death. A case of severe HDFN due to anti-M alloantibody from an alloimmunized grandmultiparous Malay woman with recurrent pregnancy loss is reported here. The newborn was delivered with severe and prolonged anaemia which required frequent RBC transfusions, intensive phototherapy and intravenous immunoglobulin administration. Although anti-M is rarely known to cause severe HDFN, a careful serological work-up and close assessment of foetal well-being is important, similar to the management of RhD HDFN. Alloimmunisation with anti-M type can lead to severe HDFN and even foetal loss.
Factor X (FX) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive congenital bleeding disorder. The clinical presentation is among the most severe among the rare coagulation defects. Thus, majority of diagnosed patients will receive factor replacement therapy before surgical manipulation. However, the diagnosis of FX deficiency may be overlooked because it is a rare entity. This is a case report of a 15-year-old male patient who was diagnosed with FX deficiency after developing post-operative complications. With regular fresh frozen plasma infusion given, the patient responded well and recovered. However, had he been diagnosed earlier pre-operatively, the post-operative complication could have been prevented. Therefore, pre-operative coagulation screening should be performed in patients with significant bleeding history in both emergency and elective situations to prevent surgical morbidity related to post-operative bleeding.