ABSTRACT
A pre-operative autologous blood donation programme was started in 1988 and made available to all doctors offering elective surgical procedures. Two hundred and seventy-seven (277) patients presented for autologous donation over a five-year period. Nine point four per cent were rejected because of low haemoglobin ( < 10.5 g/dl). The single biggest user of the programme was the Princess Elizabeth Hospital for handicapped persons. Patients undergoing orthopaedic procedures gave 50% of the donations, and ranged in age from 10 to 73 years. The oldest donor was a 73-year-old man who had an abdominal aortic aneurysm replaced. Gynaecological surgeons in the public and private sectors together provided 43.9% of donors, 3.6% of these underwent elective Caesarean Section, each donating one unit of blood at 36 weeks. Patients undergoing general surgical procedures comprised 10.4% of donors. Autologous donors contributed 1.3% of the total number of donations over this period.
Subject(s)
Blood Donors , Blood Transfusion, Autologous , Preoperative Care , Adult , Aged , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Trinidad and TobagoABSTRACT
Of 1089 healthy blood donors screened for HTLV-1 using ABBOTTS HTLV-1 EIA: 18 (1.7%) were positive; and 16 (1.5%) were confirmed positive using HTLV-1/11 Cambridge Biothec Western Blot method. HTLV-1 antibodies were found amongst the major ethnic groups, viz. Africans, 11 cases (68.75%) and East Indians 4 cases (25%). The mean age of the donors who tested positive for HTLV-1 was 30.75 years; and the male to female ratio was 4.3:1.
Subject(s)
Blood Donors , HTLV-I Antibodies/blood , HTLV-I Infections/epidemiology , Adult , Africa/ethnology , Age Factors , Blotting, Western , Female , HTLV-I Infections/ethnology , Humans , Immunoenzyme Techniques , India/ethnology , Male , Prevalence , Prospective Studies , Retrospective Studies , Sex Factors , Trinidad and Tobago/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Of 1089 healthy blood donors screened for HTLV-I using ABBOTTS HTLV-I EIA: 18 (1.7 percent) were positive; and 16 (1.5 percent) were confirmed positive using HTLV-I/11 Cambridge Biothec Western Blot method. HTLV-I antibodies were found amongst the major ethnic groups, viz. Africans, 11 cases (68.75 percent) and East Indians 4 cases (25 percent). The mean age of the donors who tested positive for HTLV-I was 30.75 years; and the male to female ratio was 4.3:1. (AU)
