Abstract
Alloimmunization is currently the most frequent adverse blood transfusion event. Whilst completely matched donor blood would nullify the alloimmunization risk, this is practically infeasible. Current matching strategies therefore aim at matching a limited number of blood groups only, and have evolved over time by systematically including matching strategies for those blood groups for which (serious) alloimmunization complications most frequently occurred. An optimal matching strategy for controlling the risk of alloimmunization however, would balance alloimmunization complications and costs within the entire blood supply chain, whilst fulfilling all practical requirements and limitations. In this article the outline of an integrated blood management model is described and various potential challenges and prospects foreseen with the development of such a model are discussed.
Highlights
In a utopian world every blood transfusion would be handled like an organ transplant, which means that one would try to find a perfect match between donor and recipient
The reality is that completely matched donor blood is impossible in practice due to the abundance of blood group antigens, costs associated with blood typing, and complications the logistics for such a scheme would impose
Frontiers in Medicine | www.frontiersin.org van Sambeeck et al Optimizing Blood Matching Strategies have been guided by the frequency of alloimmunization incidents, without systematically considering all consequences such strategies impose on the blood supply
Summary
Edited by: Christoph Niederhauser, Transfusion Interrégionale CRS SA, Switzerland. Reviewed by: Anastasios G. Hurk K, van Dongen A, Koopman MMW, van Kraaij MGJ, van der Schoot CE, Schonewille H, de Kort WLAM and Janssen MP (2018) A Conceptual Framework for Optimizing Blood Matching Strategies: Balancing. Ellen van der Schoot 5, Henk Schonewille 5, Wim L. Alloimmunization is currently the most frequent adverse blood transfusion event. Whilst completely matched donor blood would nullify the alloimmunization risk, this is practically infeasible. Current matching strategies aim at matching a limited number of blood groups only, and have evolved over time by systematically including matching strategies for those blood groups for which (serious) alloimmunization complications most frequently occurred. An optimal matching strategy for controlling the risk of alloimmunization would balance alloimmunization complications and costs within the entire blood supply chain, whilst fulfilling all practical requirements and limitations.
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