No abstract available.
Chimerism ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells

The Korean Journal of Blood Transfusion (KJBT) stands as a prominent publication in the field of transfusion medicine, playing a pivotal role in advancing both national blood management projects and clinical explorations.In three years (2021∼2023) KJBT has disseminated 60 articles. During this period, five new article types (opinion, illustrated, mini-review, protocol, and annual report) have been introduced, and a new version of the online submission system has been implemented. The articles in KJBT have also been used as a valuable reference source for the first textbook on transfusion medicine published by the Korean Society of Blood Transfusion in 2023. With the ongoing efforts of the editorial team to provide better services to authors and readers, coupled with the sustained interest and passion of all the members, we hope that KJBT will continue to contribute to the advancement of domestic transfusion medicine research and the national blood program.

The Landsteiner–Wiener (LW) antigen is a type of red blood cell antigen. Anti-LW appears in various situations, including alloantibodies, autoantibodies, and even transiently occurring antibodies. Anti-LW has similar characteristics to anti-D, so it can interfere with interpreting pre-transfusion tests and finding compatible blood. This paper introduces three cases in whom anti-LW was detected through antibody identification tests. All three cases were examined using the column agglutination technique with ID-DiaPanel (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) on a LISS/Coombs card, ID-DiaPanel p (Bio-Rad) on a NaCl/Enzyme card, and ID-DiaPanel (Bio-Rad) on a LISS/Coombs card using red blood cells treated with dithiothreitol. The auto-control test, direct antiglobulin test, and umbilical cord blood test were also performed. In all three cases, the reaction with D-positive panel cells was stronger than that with the D-negative panel cells, and two of them showed a pan-agglutinated reaction in ID-DiaPanel p (Bio-Rad) with NaCl/Enzyme card. They were reported as anti-LW, and as in these cases, anti-LW can occur under a range of conditions and interfere with proper transfusion. Therefore, it is important to identify anti-LW accurately, and if anti-LW is present, the transfusion of D-negative ABO matched blood should be recommended because of the low expression of the LW-antigen. On the other hand, D-positive blood is not a contraindication when an urgent transfusion is needed.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China; it has since caused a pandemic, with more than 10,000 confirmed cases (> 800,000 tests) in Korea as of May 2020. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is currently the most commonly used method for the diagnosis of COVID-19 worldwide. The Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine and Korea Centers for Disease Prevention and Control regularly update the guidelines for COVID-19 diagnosis. Emergency use authorization for some laboratory diagnostic kits has been granted, enabling the timely diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19, and the isolation of infected patients. Due to the collective efforts of the government, medical professionals, local authorities, and the public, Korea’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak has been accepted widely as a model. Here, we summarize the currently available laboratory tests for COVID-19 diagnosis. Although RT-PCR tests are used widely to confirm COVID-19, antibody tests could provide information about immune responses to the virus.

We would like to introduce domestic subscribers of the Korean Journal of Blood Transfusion to the important aspects to be considered while selecting a reference allele and reporting a new allele candidate. ABO*A1.02 has only a single nucleotide substitution of c.467C＞T in ABO*A1.01, and when ABO*A1.01 is used as the reference allele, the ABO*AW.10 allele should be marked as having both c.467C＞T and c.784G＞A variants. Unfortunately, it has not been modified as such in the ISBT database. For this reason, in the journal Transfusion (2020), the official journal of the Association for the Advancement of Blood Biotherapies, there was a report of a new allele with c.467C＞T and c.784G＞A variants. Cases of ABO*AW.10 allele with a weak A phenotype are not uncommon in Koreans, and it is necessary to accurately mark the reference allele. The blood type A reference allele of the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) database currently used for ABO alleles reporting is based on ABO*A1.01. Therefore, it should be considered that the ABO*AW.10 allele has both the c.467C＞T and c.784G＞A variants together.

BACKGROUND: Enterobacter species are frequent nosocomial pathogens and the proportion of beta-lactam resistant strains are on the increase. Extended spectrum beta-lactamases(ESBLs) were mainly investigated in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli in Korea. Recently, we experienced 4 strains of multidrug(including cephamycin)-resistant Enterobacter cloacae and characterized the ESBL types. METHODS: Multidrug-resistant E. cloacae strains were tested for ESBL production by double-disk synergy test and conjugation. The presence of TEM, SHV or IMP gene was determined by polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Of the four strains that revealed positive reaction in double-disk synergy test, ceftazidime- resistance was transferred in two and cefoxitin-resistance was transferred in four strains by conjugation. In the polymerase chain reaction, three out of four strains had both TEM and SHV genes and one strain had only TEM gene. Two ceftazidime transconjugants had both TEM and SHV genes. CONCLUSION: We should be aware of ESBL producing Enterobacteriaceae and the possible institutional spread of resistance genes.
beta-Lactams* ; Ceftazidime ; Cloaca ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Enterobacter cloacae* ; Enterobacter* ; Enterobacteriaceae ; Escherichia coli ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Korea ; Plasmids ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

BACKGROUND: Automated blood cell analyzers often read leukemic blasts as normal cells. In this study, we evaluated the 5-part differential patterns of blasts using automated analyzers to determine if they can differentiate among blast types. METHODS: Blood samples containing 10% or more blasts were collected from patients with acute leukemia (N=175). The 5-part differential count was conducted using DxH 800 (Beckman Coulter, USA) and XE-2100 analyzers (Sysmex Co., Japan), and the results were compared with manual differential counts, which was used as a reference method. RESULTS: The DxH 800 reported the 5-part white blood cell differential count in 98.9% of the cases. The XE-2100 provided an invalid automated differential count in 72% of the cases. Both analyzers counted most lymphoblasts as lymphocytes and most myeloblasts as monocytes. In 11 cases, the DxH 800 reported a 5-part differential count without a blast flag. CONCLUSIONS: Some automated analyzers are able to recognize and count blasts according to their characteristic cell types. Therefore, complete blood counts obtained automatically can provide valuable data for making provisional decisions regarding the lineage of leukemia cells before further investigation.
Acute Disease ; Automation ; Blood Cell Count/*instrumentation/methods ; Humans ; Leukemia/blood/*diagnosis ; Leukemia, Monocytic, Acute/blood/diagnosis ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/blood/diagnosis ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute/blood/diagnosis ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/blood/diagnosis

The t(3;3)(q21;q26.2) is known to be mainly observed in hematologic myeloid malignancies, as a form of 3q21q26 syndrome. Cytogenetic abnormalities of 3q21q26 syndrome result in RPN1-EVI1 fusion transcripts involving ecotropic viral integration site-1 (EVI1) at 3q26.2 and ribophorin I (RPN1) at 3q21, and the fusion transcripts play an important role in leukemogenesis and disease progression. They are usually associated with dysplasia, especially of megakaryocytes. Patients with these cytogenetic abnormalities show extremely poor prognosis even with aggressive anti-leukemic therapy. We report a case of blastic crisis of CML with both t(3;3)(q21;q26.2) and t(9;22)(q34;q11.2) and associated severe multilineage dysplasia. The patient showed a poor response to imatinib, dasatinib and aggressive induction therapy. When both t(3;3)(q21;q26.2) and t(9;22)(q34;q11.2) are observed in cases of leukemia with increased blasts, they are best considered as aggressive phases of CML with t(3;3)(q21;q26.2), rather than AML with t(9;22)(q34;q11.2) by 2008 WHO classification.
Adolescent ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use ; Blast Crisis/*diagnosis ; Bone Marrow Cells/pathology ; *Chromosomes, Human, Pair 3 ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/*diagnosis/drug therapy/genetics ; Male ; Piperazines/therapeutic use ; Pyrimidines/therapeutic use ; Thiazoles/therapeutic use ; *Translocation, Genetic

BACKGROUND: In vitro serum allergen-specific IgE tests have been routinely used in the clinical diagnosis of allergic diseases. We evaluated the clinical usefulness of a newly introduced multiple antigen screen test, Advansure Allergy Screen (LG Life Science, Korea) (LG-Screen) for the detection of allergen specific IgE. METHODS: A total of 180 sera (80 for inhalant and 100 for food panels) were tested by LG-Screen and RIDA Allergy Screen (R-biopharm, Germany) (RIDA-Screen) assays. According to the 58-60 specific allergens or allergen groups, the positive rates and agreement rates were analyzed using the cut off levels of class 2. For the quantitation of total IgE and specific IgE, nephelometry and ImmunoCAP test were performed in the sera showing discrepant results between the two allergy screen assays. RESULTS: The agreement rate and kappa value (k) of total IgE between the two allergy screen assays was 73.9% and 0.333. LG-Screen showed higher agreement rate with nephelometry than RIDA-Screen. The positive rates to common outdoor inhalant and food allergens were significantly higher in RIDA-Screen. Overall agreement rate of specific IgE between the two allergy screen assays for 58 allergens was 86.7% (6,086/7,020) (k, 0.293). In samples showing discrepant results between the two allergy screen assays, concordance rate of allergy screen assay with ImmunoCAP assay was 70.9% (449/633) for LG-Screen (k, 0.585) and 29.1% (184/633) for RIDA-Screen (k, -0.303). CONCLUSIONS: LG-Screen showed a favorable agreement with RIDA-Screen and ImmunoCAP assays, and it could be used for the detection of allergen specific IgE in the clinical laboratory.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Allergens/diagnostic use/*immunology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity, Immediate/diagnosis ; Immunoglobulin E/*blood ; Immunologic Tests/methods ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic

Pallister-Killian syndrome (PKS) is a rare disorder characterized cytogenetically by tetrasomy 12p for isochromosome of the short arm of chromosome 12. PKS is diagnosed by prenatal genetic analysis through chorionic villous sampling, genetic amniocentesis, and cordocentesis, or by chromosomal analysis of skin fibroblasts, but is not usually detected by chromosomal analysis of peripheral blood cells. Herein, we report a case of a gravida at 23 weeks gestation with pulmonary stenosis and right ventricular dilation of the heart which were detected by sonography. Fluorescence in situ hybridization and a multicolor banding technique were performed to verify the diagnosis as 47,XX, +mar.ish i(12)(p10)(TEL++)[16]/46,XX[4], and an autopsy confirmed the cardiac anomalies detected on antenatal sonography.
Adult ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12 ; Female ; Fetal Diseases/*diagnosis/genetics ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Karyotyping ; Pregnancy ; *Prenatal Diagnosis ; Pulmonary Valve Stenosis/*ultrasonography ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Right/*ultrasonography