Extent of transfusion support in a developing country in managing a bleeding acute myeloid leukemia patient with platelet transfusion refractoriness

Gayathiri K Chellaiya, Chandran K Nair, Vineetha Raghavan, R Jesu Pandian, Roshan Vinod, Mohandoss MurugesanAsian Journal of Transfusion Science 2021 15(1):90-93Conventional platelet transfusion may not be adequate to deal with platelet transfusion refractoriness (PTR), and therefore human leukocyte antigen (HLA) or human platelet antigen (HPA) matched and platelet crossmatch compatible units are recommended. However, in developing countries, finding a unit that is HLA or HPA matched or platelet crossmatch poses a challenge. Hence, easier and cost-effective alternatives such as massive platelet transfusion and continuous platelet transfusion were attempted to manage bleeding in PTR. A 31-year-old male presented with acute myeloid leukemia relapse and chloroma in bladder underwent FLAG salvage chemotherapy. Despite almost daily platelet transfusion with single donor platelets (SDPs), patient presented with hematuria and low corrected count increment at 1 h and 24 h suggesting both immune and nonimmune refractoriness to platelet transfusion. The patient received SDP transfusion twice daily from day 19 to day 21 to maintain hemostasis. The patient had persistent hematuria, so massive platelet transfusion in the form of double adult doses of SDP given every 12th hourly for three events. Despite these measures, there was persistent hematuria and refractoriness to platelet transfusion. As HLA or HPA matched or crossmatch compatible platelets were unavailable, continuous platelet tr...
Source: Asian Journal of Transfusion Science - Category: Hematology Authors: Source Type: research