Thread by @TransfusionWM

Prof Dave Roberts now taking us through whether we should genotype all blood donors #BSH2019

Alloimmunisation is a significant source of morbidity and also causes a lot of extra work and time delays for treatment. Therefore best avoided if possible #BSH2019

12-15% sickle patients in a large centre who could benefit from exchange transfusion are not having this procedure as blood is not available for them due to having developed multiple antibodies #BSH2019

Sequencing of donors underway in many studies. To restrict to red cell and platelet types or hole genome sequencing? Paper on blood typing here #BSH2019
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29780001

Our health secretary is keen on WGS being undertaken and underwent the test himself. But it's important to consider implications of the results on individuals #BSH2019 theguardian.com/science/2019/m… #BSH2019

Wider benefits of testing donors may include:
-Management of restless legs and syncope
-Diagnosis of haemochromatosis
-Flagging product quality e.g. pseudohyperkalaemia and haemolysis

#BSH2019

Restless legs associated with genetic traits and can compile composite risk score along with iron deficiency to identify those at risk #BSH2017
thelancet.com/journals/laneu…

Genotyping patients would have benefits for patients and donors, and is coming with reducing costs. BUT changes to infrastructure would be required to manage large scale population typing. #BSH2019

Dr Massey argues genotyping will not help if we can't recruit and maintain donors of the required blood groups. Difficult to recruit donors from minority groups and psychologists advise being inclusive in calls for recruitment, says Prof Roberts #BSH2019