Repeat Antibody Screens: What is the Appropriate Interval?

Educational Track: Technical/Clinical
Topic: Transfusion Medicine
Intended Audience: 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: Geoffrey Wool, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Medical Director of Coagulation Laboratory, Attending, Transfusion Medicine/Apheresis Service, Director, Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Program, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Speaker: Christopher A. Tormey, MD, Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Lecturer in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University; Medical Director, Transfusion Medicine Service, Laboratory Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital; Director, Transfusion Medicine Fellowship, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT

Learning Objectives

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

• Describe kinetics of antibody development, including evanescence and anamnestic response.
• Apply principles of immunoglobulin production to policy development for antibody screen expiration.
• Identify situations where the extension of antibody screen expiration date could increase patient risk for hemolytic reaction.

Program Description

Antibody screens are generally repeated every three days in recently transfused or pregnant patients, given the risk of new antibody formation. In patients without recent transfusion or pregnancy, the interval between antibody screens can be extended and this is typically convenient for pre-operative patients distant from the hospital. However, the optimal time to extend expiration time in select patient populations is not known. This eCast will also discuss the timing of antibody development and evanescence, as they impact compatibility testing.

Registration

AABB understands the value of learning together as a group but with COVID-19, bringing everyone together to share the experience in person may not be an option for your team. Given this, all participants in a group will be provided the ability to register as a single viewer (AABB will provide a promocode to registered group viewing coordinators to share with their team in advance of the live program). If you are a group interested in participating in this eCast, simply complete the Group Viewing registration form and AABB will provide detailed instructions to share with your team. For single viewers, the process has not changed.

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

Dr. Christopher Tormey is pathologist (board certified in Clinical Pathology as well as Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine) in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Yale University. Clinically, Chris is the Medical Director of the Transfusion Service at Yale-New Haven Hospital (New Haven, CT), also providing clinical pathology, transfusion, and laboratory hematology services at Yale-New Haven Hospital. From the research standpoint, Chris has several investigative interests including: alloimmunization to non-ABO antigens in the setting of transfusion or pregnancy; examining the platelet storage lesion; and optimizing test performance/interpretation in hemostasis assays. In addition, Chris is also the Director of the Transfusion Medicine fellowship at Yale and teaches medical/PA/nursing students, residents, and fellows at the Yale School of Medicine.

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.