Just not cosmesis! Role of low-density lipoprotein apheresis in familial hypercholesterolemia: Experience at a newly developed tertiary care institution in Northern India.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is characterized by an increase in plasma low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. It presents with tendon/skin xanthomas and premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The most available treatment options for FH are lipid-lowering medications such as statins, lifestyle modification, and LDL apheresis. As per American Society for Apheresis guidelines 2019, the treatment of FH using LDL apheresis falls under Category I. Here, we are reporting an interesting case of a young patient who presented with chief complaints of progressively increasing yellowish lesions around eyes, neck, hands, and legs. She was thoroughly investigated and was diagnosed provisionally as a case of Type 2 FH. Her total serum cholesterol and LDL-C were 717.2 mg/dl and 690.6 mg/dl, respectively, at presentation. One cycle of LDL apheresis was planned for her. We found immediate post-procedural reduction of 55.8% and 55.3% for total serum and LDL cholesterol levels respectively while 70.58% and 77.41% reduction in the levels from the day of presentation to the hospital.

Routine indirect antiglobulin testing of blood donors-a further step toward blood safety: an experience from a tertiary care center in northern India.

CONCLUSIONS: This scientific article emphasizes the importance of a policy for antibody screening of all blood donors as a step to further improve blood safety. We also report the incidence of red blood cell (RBC) alloimmunization in healthy blood donors obtained using a cross-sectional prospective study from September 2017 to January 2019 in the Department of Transfusion Medicine of a tertiary care referral and teaching institute in northern India. The indirect antiglobulin test (IAT) for unexpected RBC antibodies was performed by the conventional tube test with pooled group O RBCs on all donor units irrespective of their D status. Samples with positive IATs were sent to the Immune Hematology Reference Laboratory for further immunohematolo-gy workup, maintaining predefined optimal storage and transport conditions. Of the 10,390 donors studied, 9959 were males and 431 were females. The incidence of unexpected antibodies (antibodies other than those of the ABO blood system) among the blood donors was found to be 0.18 percent (19 of 10,390 with 25 alloantibodies). Of the 19 alloimmunized donors, 16 (84.2%) were male (alloimmunization rate 0.16%, 16 of 9959) and 3 (15.8%) were female (alloimmunization rate 0.69%, 3 of 431) (p = 0.01; chi-square test). In our study, the most frequent alloantibodies identified were of the Lewis blood group system (17 of 25 [68%] in 14 of the 19 alloimmunized donors). The second most common allo-antibodies belonged to the Rh blood group system (4 of 25 [16%] in 3 of the 19 alloimmunized donors), followed by those of the MNS blood group system (3 of 25 [12%] in 2 of 19 alloimmunized donors). Anti-K was found in one donor (1 of 25 [4%]). Based on the results of the study, we recommend that a policy of routinely performing IATs on all donor units, irrespective of their D status, be adopted as an essential component of safe blood transfusion practices.