REGGI and the American Rare Donor Program

Abstract

The American Rare Donor Program (ARDP) was formed in 1998 to provide rare blood units for patients in need. Members of the program identify rare donors and submit donor information for entrance into a database, REGGI. Information on patients in need of rare blood is also submitted and entered into REGGI. REGGI serves to match phenotypes of registered donors with patients having the respective antibodies. A search process for available units ensues, and blood is provided to the patient. This report provides information on REGGI and its use in the ARDP.

Integration of red cell genotyping into the blood supply chain: a population-based study

“…33 Using the combined genotype and serologic phenotype information, we identified 15,072 of the 15,106 (99.8%) red cell units needed for 5661 of 5672 (99.8%) patient encounters (Table 2). Requests ranged from 1 to 10 antigens per red cell unit.…”

“…No adverse reactions or alloimmunizations due to unmatched antigens were reported to the blood center. From 2011 to 2013, we thawed and deglycerolized 83 of 15,106 (0.6%) frozen units for patients in hospitals served by BloodCenter of Wisconsin, and supplied 134 (0.9%) red cell units that were defined as ‘rare’ by the American Rare Donor Program (ARDP) 33 to 25 patients. Only 34 red cell units had to be imported from other blood centers for 11 patients, because the antigen-negative red cell units were not readily available at the time of the request.…”

The American Rare Donor Program

“…He moved to Washington, DC, and founded the American Red Cross Rare Donor Registry 4 years later. The ARDP, jointly funded by the ARC and AABB, was formed after the individual rare donor programs merged and began operations on November 1, 1998 [9]. The ARDP database is maintained by the ARC and is currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.…”

“…International registries contacted may include the World Health Organization International Panel of Rare Donors in the United Kingdom, the Sanquin Bank of Frozen Blood in Amsterdam, or national banks in countries including South Africa, Japan, Israel, or France [14]. The ARDP coordinates shipment of products when located and provides any necessary follow-up with the receiving facility [9].…”

Data Collection and Data Sharing - the Holy Gral of Transfusion Medicine and Modern Bioscience

“…The registry is run under the auspices of the German Society for Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Transfusionsmedizin und Immunhämatologie; DGTI) and will soon be completed by a lot of new genotypes identified at Regional Blood Transfusion Service in Zurich using mass spectrometry-based genotyping [7]. Flickinger [8] gives an overview on the American Rare Donor Program which covers 82 member facilities in the USA and contains more than 59,000 active rare donors. Taken together, these two registries represent comprehensive repositories to organize freshly donated rare blood for patients in need.…”