Speaker

Dr. Aseem K Tiwari, Director, Department of Transfusion Medicine at Medanta – The Medicity Hospital, Gurgaon

Objectives of the Lecture

In most countries, donated blood is a limited resource. Hence, pre- and post-donation donor care should be included in the first step of the transfusion pathway for enrolment and retention of voluntary donors. Essentially, the health of the donor should be the utmost importance for blood banks.

In this webinar, we draw on the experience of a transfusion expert on the management of the donor’s health. Beyond the routine hemoglobin testing measures, we explore the application of another novel parameter in aiding the diagnosis of Latent Iron Deficiency Anemia for frequent blood donors.

Abstract of Lecture

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common type of anemia. Blood donors have an additional risk of iron depletion. Though hemoglobin screening of a donor is done prior to donation to prevent anemic donor from donating, test for hemoglobin is not same as donor iron status which has two more stages; low iron stores, latent IDA before the actual anemia is manifested. During the latent stages, hemoglobin and RBC indices are normal. It is important to detect Latent Iron Deficiency (LID) to prevent development of an overt iron deficiency anemia in blood donors. Early detection is difficult by using conventional hematological and biochemical parameters. Soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) is presently the gold standard for diagnosing LID. A newer hematological parameter, Reticulocyte Hemoglobin Equivalent (Ret-He) is evaluated to give information on a donor’s risk of developing iron depletion and predict LID in blood donors as compared to sTfR. This could provide an opportunity to make appropriate and timely interventions like dietary changes or supplementation to prevent development of overt anemia.

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