Are Bradycardic Donors More Likely to Have Adverse Outcomes During Blood Donation?

INTRODUCTION: In order to decrease adverse donor reactions during blood donation, volunteers are screened to safely donate according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards. Volunteers must be normocardic, with a pulse between 50 and 100 beats per minute. Bradycardic volunteers with a pulse lower than 50 beats per minute who otherwise meet requirements may donate with physician approval. Blood donors in military settings tend to be younger and more physically fit than the average donor population, resulting in a higher percentage of bradycardic donors. The relationship between bradycardia and adverse donor reactions has not been well studied. Herein, we aim to compare post-donation adverse reactions and the ability to complete donation between normocardic and bradycardic donors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional review board approval was obtained. Records from a single blood donor center located on a large military installation in 2019 were retrospectively reviewed for vital signs, demographics, hemoglobin, and donor reactions. Donors were categorized as normocardic or bradycardic. The two groups were statistically compared using a χ2 test. RESULTS: Of the 1,601 donors in the study period, 1,514 qualified for donation. Mean age was 26.6 years (range, 17-72 years), with a male to female ratio of 2.1:1. Of these, 1,478 were normocardic and 26 were bradycardic. There was no significant difference in adverse reactions between the two groups (5.6% in bradycardic donors versus 3.6% in normocardic donors, n = 1,514, χ21 = 0.39, P = .53) or percentage of incomplete donations (5.9% in bradycardic and 5.65% in normocardic, n = 1,514, χ21 = 0.003, P = .96). CONCLUSIONS: Donors with bradycardia are as safe to donate as normocardic donors. In the absence of comorbidities, blood donor centers should ensure their policies consider donation for volunteers with bradycardia.

Molecular markers of prognosis in astrocytic tumors.

BACKGROUND: Astrocytoma is a primary brain tumor that affects 20,000 Americans each year. To date, only age and histologic grade stand out as independent predictors of survival. There is now increased interest in the use of molecular markers as objective standards against which to establish diagnosis and grade. METHODS: The study evaluated human glioma tumor suppressor genes and associated loci in fresh snap-frozen gliomas from 63 males and 37 females, with a median age of 42 years, including 19 low-grade astrocytomas. The tumor samples were selected so that about equal numbers of glioblastomas from younger and older patients were represented in the series. Methods for suppressor gene and genetic loci evaluation included loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis, multiplex polymerase chain reaction analysis, and gene sequencing. RESULTS: Low-grade astrocytomas had the least number of molecular abnormalities. LOH on 9p and/or CDKN2A deletion occurred more often in glioblastomas (P < 0.001), LOH on 17p/TP53 mutations occurred more frequently in anaplastic astrocytomas (AAs; P = 0.112), and LOH on 10q/PTEN mutation frequency was similar in glioblastomas and AAs (P < 0.001). Poorer survival was associated significantly with the occurrence of either deletion of p16 (P = 0.031), LOH on 9p (P = 0.016), or LOH on 10q (P = 0.0007). The absence of LOH on 17p and the presence of PTEN mutation were associated marginally with survival. Even though TP53 mutations were more frequent among younger patients with glioblastoma, they had no statistically significant effect on survival after adjustment for age (P = 0.62). In all multivariate models, age and grade were the only significant predictors of survival or were nearly significant predictors of survival. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that LOH on 9p and p16 deletions may prove to be objective standards for the diagnosis of patients with high-grade gliomas, although the absence of these abnormalities is nonprognostic.