Utilization Analysis of Neonatal Red Blood Cell Aliquots and Development of Electronic Issuing System / 대한수혈학회지

BACKGROUND: Although transfusion in neonates needs to be strictly regulated due to the vulnerability of neonates, there is lack of systematic studies and the working process is not well-established. This study was aimed to point out the problems of current status and to improve the efficiency of systems used in blood aliquots for neonatal transfusions. METHODS: Total red blood cell (RBC) aliquots were analyzed between May 2009 and January 2016 in the neonate intensive care unit. We investigated the aliquot number, issued day interval from the first issued aliquot among the post-aliquots, patients' blood type, and discarded RBC units among the requested RBC units. RESULTS: Of the 472 RBC aliquots, 95.4% (450/472) were divided into two units. The distribution of patients' blood type was similar to that of the Korean population, in decreasing order: A blood group (34.3%), B group (28.2%), and O group (27.5%). The second, third, and forth units of post-aliquots were taken after an average of 49.9 (0∼617.9) hours. Among the post-aliquots, the number of units discarded without use was 22.5%. CONCLUSION: According to the evaluation of current status for neonatal transfusions, we should use aliquot RBC properly and reduce unnecessary requests for aliquot RBC. In addition, in order to reduce the number of near misses, we propose a new label to be attached on the aliquotted blood bags and suggest a development of electronic blood issuing system.

Comparison of Various Methods for Detection of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / 임상검사와정도관리

BACKGROUND: Cefoxitin, a cephamycin-type antibiotic, is known to be superior to oxacillin in predicting the presence of mecA gene because it serves as a very potent inducer of mecA regulatory system. We used a cefoxitin disk diffusion methods for detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and compared it with the conventional methods. METHODS: For 50 MRSA and 50 methicillin susceptible S. aureus confirmed by mecA and femA gene PCR, oxacillin, cefoxitin, and moxalactam disk diffusion methods, oxacillin and cefoxitin E-tests, Vitek 2 and Microscan Walkaway antibiotics susceptibility tests, and PBP2a latex agglutination test were performed. The sensitivity and specificity of each method were evaluated. RESULTS: The sensitivities of oxacillin disk diffusion method and E-test were 96%. The sensitivities of cefoxitin and moxalactam disk diffusion method, cefoxitin E-test, Vitek 2, Microscan Walkaway, PBP2a latex agglutination test were 100%. The specificities were 100% for all the methods used. CONCLUSIONS: It may be considered that both the cefoxitin- and moxalactam disk diffusion methods are effective and excellent screening methods for the detection of MRSA in clinical laboratory routinely.