Platelet Transfusions. What’s New?

Educational Track: Technical/Clinical
Topic: Transfusion Medicine
Intended Audience: CEOs, Directors, Hospitals, Hospital Blood Banks, Immunohematology Reference Labs (IRL’s), Laboratory Staff, Managers/Supervisors, Medical Directors, Nurses, Physicians, Research Scientists, Residents/Fellows, Scientists, Students (MD, MT, SBB), Technologists, Transfusion Safety Officers
Teaching Level: Intermediate to Advanced

Director/Moderator:Daniela Hermelin, MD, Associate Director of Transfusion Medicine, Saint Louis University Hospital, Saint Louis, MO
Speaker: Simon Stanworth, MA, FRCP (Paeds, UK), PhD, FRCPath, Consultant Hematologist, NHSBT, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust & University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Learning Objectives

After participating in this educational activity, participants should be able to:

• Explain the study design and findings for a recent international randomized trial of platelets to preterm neonates.
• Discuss the implications of these findings for practice and research in neonatal medicine.
• Discuss the broader implications of these findings for platelet transfusion practice and research (beyond neonatal medicine).

Program Description

Platelet Transfusions: What are the Implications of Recent Randomized Trials Including a Study in Neonates? This program will consider the publication of a recent international randomized trial of platelet transfusions to preterm neonates. The speaker will provide a summary of how the study was designed and undertaken and then present the main results. The unexpected finding raises questions not only about how we recommend platelet transfusions should be used in neonates, but also should make us reflect on the consequences of transfusing a platelet component. Platelets are cells that have many functions in addition to hemostasis and clotting.

Registration

Continuing Education Credit

AABB estimates both the live and on-demand version of this eCast each to be eligible for 1 continuing education credits/contact hours for Physicians, California Nurse, California Lab Personnel, Florida Lab Personnel and General Participation credit. The final number of credit(s) and credit types awarded for this program (live or on-demand) will be determined by the program duration. For more information on each credit type please visit our Continuing Education Credits webpage.

Disclosures for the planners of this event can be found here. Disclosures for the program faculty are provided at the beginning of the program.

Speaker Biography

Prof. Simon J. Stanworth is a Consultant Haematologist for NHSBT at the John Radcliffe Hospital and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and the University of Oxford. He has over 15 years of clinical research experience since gaining his DPhil in 1995 from the University of Oxford. His research is centered on clinical indications of blood transfusion components, through systematic reviews and clinical studies/trials. Highlights have included several international randomized trials published in NEJM, including a recent study of platelet transfusions to preterm neonates.

Click here for more about the curriculum for the AABB Blood Banking & Transfusion Medicine 101: eCast Series.  AABB eCasts are 60-90-minute interactive, online programs that include a question and answer period. Participants need access to a computer with an active Internet connection to participate. To register for online live and on-demand programs, view AABB’s registration options and pricing here.