• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2011

Recently, the population of patients who refuse transfusion has increased for both religious and non-religious reasons, even in life threatening emergency situations. Their refusal has highlighted the need to develop nonblood transfusion surgery techniques to decrease the risk from blood transfusions. A 57-year woman with an ulcerative lesion on the gingiva of the right upper molar area visited the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery in Dankook University Dental Hospital. After a preliminary evaluation, the patient was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma. As she refused blood transfusion during surgery for religious reasons, surgery was planned using recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) without a blood transfusion. The patient underwent a partial maxillectomy, supraomohyoid neck dissection, free radial forearm flap and split thickness skin graft under general anesthesia. rHuEPO and iron were used before and after surgery. The hemoglobin/hematocrit (Hb/Hct) level, iron (Fe) and total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) were assessed. The patient recovered completely without any blood transfusions. rHuEPO is a viable alternative for patients with religious objections to receiving blood transfusions.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.302-310
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• 2022

Efficient use of limited blood products is becoming very important in terms of socioeconomic status and patient recovery. To predict the appropriateness of patient-specific transfusions for the intensive care unit (ICU) patients who require real-time monitoring, we evaluated a model to predict the possibility of transfusion dynamically by using the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III (MIMIC-III), an ICU admission record at Harvard Medical School. In this study, we developed an explainable machine learning to predict the possibility of red blood cell transfusion for major medical diseases in the ICU. Target disease groups that received packed red blood cell transfusions at high frequency were selected and 16,222 patients were finally extracted. The prediction model achieved an area under the ROC curve of 0.9070 and an F1-score of 0.8166 (LightGBM). To explain the performance of the machine learning model, feature importance analysis and a partial dependence plot were used. The results of our study can be used as basic data for recommendations related to the adequacy of blood transfusions and are expected to ultimately contribute to the recovery of patients and prevention of excessive consumption of blood products.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1048-1054
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• 1992

With use of a simple, inexpensive and nonpharmacological program for blood conservation, 24 consecutive patients underwent elective or urgent coronary artery bypass grafting without need of homologous red cell transfusions and /or fresh frozen plasma transfusions in 16 patients[66.7%]. Left internal mammary artery graftings were done in 18 patients[75%], with supplemental saphenous vein grafts in all. Intraoperatively, autologous heparinized blood was removed before bypass and retransfused at the conclusion of ext-racorporeal circulation. The volume remaining in the oxygenator and tubing set was returned without cell processing or hemofiltration. Using the hard-shell cardiotomy reservoir from the oxygenator, autotransfusion of the shed mediastinal blood was continued hourly by the next early;norning. The mean postoperative mediastinal blood loss was 364$\pm$234ml, whereas 553$\pm$383ml was autotransfused. 4 patients [16.7%] received homologous blood and an additional 4 patients[16.7%] fresh frozen plasma. Thus, in total, 16 patients[66.7%] were not exposed to any homologous blood products during the hospital stay. At discharge, the mean hemoglobin concentration was 10.3$\pm$1.6g /dl. Postoperative complications were few and there was no hospital death.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 2006

Alloimmunization to red blood cell (RBC) antigens may cause a delayed hemolytic transfusion reactions (DHTR) and a delayed serologic transfusion reactions (DSTR). In the present study, the frequency of alloimmunization and its clinical significance were evaluated. Also, transfusions were correlated with antibody formation. Alloimmunization rate was 0.63%. Alloimmunization rate in multiple transfused patients was 24.5%. The most common clinically significant alloantibodies of alloimmunized patients were found to be Rh antibodies (52.6%). Nine patients out of 38 (23.7%) became undetectable after the first detection. To be positive at antibody screening test after RBC transfusion was mean transfused numbers: 3.7 units, mean transfused periods: 56 days, mean transfused frequencies: 1.7 times. The results from antibody specificity and RBC transfusions were comparatively analyzed and it shows that Rh system antibodies were longer than other antibodies (P<0.05). In case of disease group, malignant diseases was longer than other diseases (P<0.05). In order to prevent the formation of RBC alloimmunization, irregular antibody screening tests were performed at propriety intervals in multiple transfused patients.

• The Korean Nurse
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• v.17 no.5 s.97
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• pp.30-34
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• 1978

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.50-54
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• 2018

Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions, because of their particular interpretation of the Old and New Testaments. When people with such religious convictions are in need of medical care, their faith and belief may become an obstacle for proper treatment, and pose legal, ethical, and medical challenges for the health care providers. We report two inherited metabolic disorder cases in South Korea where the infants died whilst under medical care because of parental refusal of blood transfusions for religious reasons. Case 1 had methylmalonic acidemia, Down syndrome and associated congenital cardiac anomalies requiring surgery. Case 2 had anemia and methylmalonic acidemia requiring dialysis to treat hyperammonemia and metabolic acidosis. For effective medical management, they needed life-saving blood transfusions. As a part of alternative treatment, Erythropoietin was administered in both cases. As a result, two babies died from their extremely low hemoglobin and hematocrit. The hemoglobin concentrations below 2.7 g/dL without cardiac problem and 5.4 g/dL with cardiac anomaly complicated by pulmonary hypertension are considered life-threatening hemoglobin threshold. The medical professional must respect and accommodate religious beliefs of the patients who can make informed decisions. However, when parents or legal guardians oppose medical treatment of their babies and incompetent care receivers on cultural and religious grounds, the duty to assist and save persons exposed to serious danger, particularly life-threatening events must come first.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.495-497
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• 2017

Thalassemia major is a genetic disorder with a defective synthesis of either the alpha or the beta chain of hemoglobin A. Blood transfusion is crucial for the survival in these patients. Unfortunately, endocrine dysfunction is a very common complication in these patients and is principally due to excessive iron overload as a result of frequent blood transfusions. Although regular blood transfusion may increase life expectancy, disturbances in growth and pubertal development, abnormal gonadal functions, impaired thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal functions, diabetes, and disorderly bone growth are common side effects. We hereby present a case of a 23-year-old, unmarried woman with beta thalassemia major presenting with primary amenorrhea, poor development of secondary sexual character, and short stature. Thorough history, clinical examination, and laboratory investigation, including dynamic function test (insulin tolerance test) were conducted. These tests confirmed that she had multiple endocrinopathies, including hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, growth hormone deficiency, and subclinical adrenal insufficiency, which were caused by iron overload. She required hormone replacement therapy. Early recognition of possible deficiencies in hypothalamo-pituitary-end organ hormones caused by iron overload in thalassemia patients that undergo frequent blood transfusion procedures is essential. Appropriate treatments, including transfusion regimen and chelation therapy, as well as specific treatment of each complication are the crucial for the successful management and improvement of quality of life these patients.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.112-115
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• 2013

Purpose: To investigate the association between necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and red blood cell transfusions in very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm infants. Methods: We studied were 180 VLBW preterm infants who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of CHA Gangnam Hospital from January of 2006 to December of 2009. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: an NEC group (greater than stage II on the modified Bell's criteria) and a control group (less than stage II on the modified Bell's critieria). We defined red blood cell transfusion before NEC diagnosis as the frequency of transfusion until NEC diagnosis (mean day at NEC diagnosis, day 18) in the NEC group and the frequency of transfusion until 18 days after birth in the control group. Results: Of the 180 subjects, 18 (10%) belonged to the NEC group, and 14 (78%) of these 18 patients had a history of transfusion before NEC diagnosis. The NEC group received $3.1{\pm}2.9$ transfusions, and the control group received $1.0{\pm}1.1$ transfusions before the NEC diagnosis (P=0.005). In a multivariate logistic regression corrected for gestational age, Apgar score at 1 minute, the presence of respiratory distress syndrome, patent ductus arteriosus, premature rupture of membrane, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy and death were confounding factors. The risk of NEC increased 1.63 times (95% confidence interval, 1.145 to 2.305; P=0.007) with transfusion before the NEC diagnosis. Conclusion: The risk for NEC increased significantly with increased transfusion frequency before the NEC diagnosis.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.54-56
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• 2013

Propionic acidemia is an inherited organic acid metabolic disorder. During chronic recurrent metabolic crisis, multiple blood transfusions can cause secondary hemochromatosis. We report a patient with propionic acidemia who had iron overload that resulted in liver dysfunction, cardiomyopathy and diabetes. When multiple blood transfusions are unavoidable, use of chelating agents for iron can prevent complications such as diabetes and hemochromatosis.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.30-38
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• 2022

Purpose: The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) in South Korea initiated a quality assessment (QA) program for blood transfusion healthcare services in 2020 to ensure patient safety and appropriate blood use. This study examines the quality of blood transfusion services since the first national QA program for blood transfusion services in Korea. Methods: We analyzed HIRA claims and QA investigation data based on inpatient medical records from all tertiary, general, and primary hospitals between October 2020 and March 2021. The target population was patients aged 18 years and older who received either total knee arthroplasty or red blood cell transfusion. The QA indicators for transfusion healthcare service consisted of four quality indicators and four monitoring indicators. Results: We analyzed the results of QA indicators for transfusion service from the medical records of 189,668 patients from 1,171hospitals and expressed indicators as proportions. The average results for evaluation indicators were as follows: transfusion checklist presence, 64.8%; irregular antibody tests, 61.8%; transfusions in which the hemoglobin levels before transfusion met the transfusion guidelines for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, 20.6%, and transfusions in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, 59.3%. The average results for monitoring indicators were as follows: transfusion management implementation in medical institutions, 56.9%; preoperative anemia management in anemia patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, 43.9%; one-unit transfusions, 82.5%; and the transfusion index. Conclusion: The quality of blood transfusion healthcare varied and the assessment revealed that there is scope for improvement. Hospitals require more effective blood transfusion management and this can be facilitated by providing feedback on the QA results about blood transfusion healthcare services to medical institutions, and by disclosing the results to the public.