Trend of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) among blood donors at the blood bank of a tertiary care referral teaching hospital in Southern India

Background: Blood is a scarce, but lifesaving resource; it is also the most efficient vehicle for the transmission of Hepatitis B virus (HBV). Hence there is a need for accurate screening of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) among blood donors. The present study was designed to assess the seroprevalence of HBsAg, among the voluntary and replacement blood donors in the blood bank of a tertiary care referral teaching hospital in Andhra Pradesh.Methods: This is a prospective cross sectional analytical study conducted over a period of one and a half year. A total of 9909 donor blood samples were screened for HBsAg status using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The reactive samples have been tested in duplicate using different kit. The samples reactive in all three times were considered positive. The samples which were reactive only in first test were labeled as false positive.Results: Out of 9909 blood donors screened, 255 (2.6%) were initially reactive and 219 (2.2%) were reactive after triple testing.Conclusions: Our study showed similar HBsAg seroprevalence as that reported by World Health Organization (WHO) statistics in intermediate zone. But there was a mild increase in HBsAg seroprevalence among donors belonging to rural areas in our region compared to the urban donors.

Donor demographic and laboratory predictors of single donor platelet yield

Background: Platelet transfusions are essential to prevent morbidity and mortality in patients who are severely thrombocytopenic and are at risk of spontaneous bleeding. Platelets are currently obtained either by fractionation of whole blood or by platelet apheresis. The quality of single donor platelets (SDP) in terms of yield influences platelet recovery in the recipient and allows prolonging intervals between transfusions. Material and Methods: Donor demographic and laboratory data were analyzed prior to performing plateletpheresis to identify donor factors that influence platelet yield. The study was conducted on 130 healthy, first-time plateletpheresis donors over a period of 4 years. The plateletpheresis procedures were performed using Fresenius Kabi COM.TEC and Hemonetics MCS plus separator. A relationship between pre-donation donor variables and yield of platelets was studied using the Pearson correlation. Results: The mean platelet yield was 3.160.62x1011 per unit. A positive correlation was observed between platelet yield and pre-donation platelet count, body mass index (BMI; Kg/m2) of the donor, while a negative correlation was observed between age and the platelet yield. Conclusion: Donor pre-donation platelet count, BMI and donor age influence platelet yield. Young healthy donors with a high platelet count and better BMI can give a better platelet yield in the SDP

Cerebellar liponeurocytoma: a case-report

Cerebellar liponeurocytoma is a rare cerebellar neoplasm of adults with advanced neuronal / neurocytic and focal lipomatous differentiation, a low proliferative potential and a favorable clinical prognosis corresponding to World Health Organization grade I or II. Only a few cases have been described in the literature (approximately 20 cases) by different names. A 48-years old female, presented with history of headache and dizziness associated with neck pain; restricted neck movements, drop attacks and occasional regurgitation of food since one year. Magnetic resonance imaging disclosed a right cerebellar mass lesion. Gross total resec- tion of the tumour was accomplished through a suboccipital craniotomy. The excised tissue was diagnosed as cerebellar liponeurocytoma, a rare entity, based on histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry. The morphological appearance of this neoplasm can be confused with that of oligodendroglioma, neurocytoma, ependymoma, medulloblastoma, solid hemangioblastoma and metastatic carcinomas etc., with unpredictable prognosis, which require postoperative radiotherapy, hence the importance of accurately diagnosing this rare neoplasm. This tumour should be added to the differential diagnosis of mass lesions of the posterior fossa

Para-Bombay phenotype: report of a rare blood group

The blood sample of a 54-year-old male patient who presented with signs and symptoms suggestive of anaemia was submitted to the Blood Bank for blood grouping and cross-matching. In forward grouping, no agglutination was observed with A, B and AB antisera, but agglutination was noticed with D antiserum (Group O). In reverse grouping, there was agglutination in tube labelled A and no agglutination in tubes B and O (Group B) resulting in discrepancy between forward and reverse grouping. Further testing confirmed that the individual's blood group was Para-Bombay B (Para-BH), which is a rare entity. The Para-Bombay phenotype is very rare. Only a few cases of Para-Bombay were reported in India till now and none from Andhra Pradesh. This entity is characterized by the absence of H, A and B antigens on the red cells but their presence in saliva and secretions of gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts. Proper identification of this phenotype is very important; otherwise this particular blood group may be mislabelled as group O

Retained intrauterine foetal bones: a rare cause of secondary infertility leading to diagnostic dilemma

The presence of intrauterine bone fragments is rare. These patients may present with pelvic pain, dysmenorrhoea, abnormal uterine bleeding and secondary infertility. We present a case of a 36-year old woman complaining of dysfunctional uterine bleeding with secondary infertility of six years duration.Detailed history, pelvic ultrasonography, hysteroscopy and histopathological examination of the hysteroscopically evacuated uterine cavity fragments were performed. Morphological examination revealed interesting presence of some tiny bony chips along with endometrial tissue. Intrauterine retained foetal bony chips due to previous medical termination of pregnancy was identified to be the cause of secondary infertility in the present case. Our case reiterates the importance of analyzing detailed clinical history in the evaluation of patients with secondary infertilit