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One of the most
important advances in surgery has been the availability of blood and other
blood products. Without the ability to safely give blood during many of the complex
surgical procedures that have saved countless lives, these procedures would not
have succeeded.
- Blood Donation, Collecting and Processing
(American Red Cross)
- Blood donors are healthy volunteers usually
over the age of 17 years and at least 110 pounds in weight. Each donor is
initially screened through a detailed medical history
- The blood is processed into its various
parts such as red blood cells, platelets and plasma (see below)
- Every unit of blood is tested for
- Antibodies to
HIV-1 and HIV-2 (AIDS). An antibody is protein in the blood produced by
the body in response to a foreign protein (antigen) such as the AIDS
virus
- Antibodies to HBc
produced during and after infection with Hepatitis B Virus
- Antibodies to HCV
produced after infection with the Hepatitis C virus
- Antibodies to
HTLV-I/II produced after infection with Human T-Lymphotropic Virus
(HTLV-I and HTLV-II)
- Antibodies to
HBsAg produced after infection with Hepatitis B
- HIV-1 p24, a test
for the HIV (AIDS) antigen
- For blood type (ABO)
and Rh factor
- Tp, the agent that
causes syphilis
- ALT, an elevated
ALT may indicate liver inflammation, which may be caused by a hepatitis
virus
- The presence of
unexpected antibodies that may cause reactions after the transfusion
- CMV, a test for the
cytomegalovirus (performed on physician request)
- NAT (Nucleic Acid
Testing) - a new technology that can detect the genetic material of
Hepatitis C and HIV. This test, which is still under investigation, has
the potential to identify these viruses faster and more accurately
- About 70% of the blood products are
filtered to remove leukocytes (white blood cell) that fight foreign
material such as bacteria, viruses and abnormal cells that may cause
disease. When leukocytes are present in donated blood, they may not be
tolerated by the person receiving the blood and cause some types of
transfusion complications
- The various blood components are labeled as
to blood type and Rh factor (O+, A+, B+, AB+, O-, A-, B-, AB-) Figures 1
and 2
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Figure 1 - Reagents used for determining blood types A, B and O
as well as the Rh factor. |
Figure 2 - Bag of packed red blood cells. |
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