Examination of donor RBCs for presence of Kell and Rh(E) antigens before transfusion can help decrease RBC alloimmunization. Further larger studies are required to assess the frequency of alloantibody production in patients on LDEP.

Flow cytometry is more sensitive than GT for assessing CTT-DAT-negative AIHA. We propose that FC percent fluorescence cut-off values should be employed to determine the Coombs' negative AIHA cases.

Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is based upon clinical suspicion in patients at risk and confirmatory duplex imaging of the deep venous system of the affected extremity. The aim of the present study was to determine different cutoff points of D-dimer, P-selectin and microparticles that could be used in early diagnosis and prediction of impending DVT in symptomatic patients with normal duplex ultrasound. Three groups of individuals were examined: 50 healthy volunteers (Group I); 75 patients with positive duplex ultrasound for DVT (Group II) and 75 symptomatic patients, but with negative duplex ultrasound for DVT (Group III). D-dimer was measured by immunoturbidimetric assay, P-selectin by flow cytometry and microparticles by ELISA. D-dimer, P-selectin and microparticles levels were significantly higher in Group II and III patients when compared with Group I individuals. Using receiver-operating characteristic curves, we determined that cutoff levels of 0.92 mg/l for D-dimer, 17.8% for P-selectin and 16.5 nmol/l for microparticles can accurately rule out DVT. New cutoff levels were estimated for the three studied biomarkers that differentiated the group of DVT-negative duplex patients without thrombosis from those patients of the same group who developed thrombosis being 2.81 mg/l for D-dimer, 30.2% for P-selectin and 26 nmol/l for microparticles. D-dimer, P-selectin and microparticles can be used to diagnose and detect impending DVT, thus identifying patients at high risk that could benefit from early anticoagulant therapy without the need for imaging studies.

Transmission of West Nile virus (WNV) from asymptomatic donors has been reported during blood transfusions and organ transplants in humans. In this work, we aimed to investigate the presence of WNV antibody and WNV RNA in blood donors to evaluate the sero-prevalence of WNV and risk for WNV transmission. One hundred and sixty blood donors were tested for the presence of anti-WNV IgG by ELISA and for WNVs 1 and 2 RNA by RT-PCR. About 55% of blood donors were seropositive for WNV IgG antibodies, with significantly higher percentage of positive donors coming from rural areas and Nile Delta region compared to other donors. Using RT-PCR all donors were negative for viral RNA of both WNV lineages 1 and 2. High sero-prevelance of WNV antibodies in asymptomatic blood donors denotes endemicity of the WNV in Egypt and points to the importance of routine screening of blood donors for WNV RNA. On the other hand the absence of WNV RNA by RT-PCR indicates apparent low risk of the blood products as regards WNV transmission. Further studies into significance of WNV seronegativity among Rh negative donors and into the use of WNV seropositive blood in prophylaxis or treatment of WNV neuroinvasive disease are recommended. J. Med. Virol. 89:1323-1329, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Analysis of TCF3 rearrangement [t(1;19) (q23;p13)] at diagnosis may provide a valuable target for modified and intensified CNS-directed chemotherapeutic protocol aiming to improve the patients' outcome.

Background: obesity and iron deficiency anemia are major health problems that are increasing in Egypt especially in females. Aim of work: this study aimed to evaluate the iron status in obese Egyptian females in comparison to normal weight females. Patients and Methods: forty four obese adult female patients and 44 normal weight healthy females as control group were included in this study. They were all tested for iron profile and CRP using semi quantitative rapid latex agglutination test. Results: the patient group in this study showed a significant lower serum Fe and TSI than the control group, while ferritin was higher in patients than the control group. The comparison between the three groups of obesity showed that the grade III patients had the lowest median value in serum iron and the highest median value in TIBC and ferritin, however no statistical significant differences were detected between the three groups of patients (P>0.05). Our results showed that 70.4%) of patients had positive CRP with positive correlation between CRP and BMI. Conclusion and Recommendations: obesity is a low inflammatory disease which affects iron profile and increases CRP. Further, study on larger number of cases is recommended to analyze the exact mechanism of iron deficiency anemia in obese female patients.

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