Scientific and educational activities

Education

Matea Vinkovic gave a talk at the joint EMA/EC webinar on:

  • The European Regulation on Substances of Human Origin (SOHO)
  • Clinical safety, practice and use of transfusions

In addition, experts from our SWG:

  • Revised teaching materials on transfusion issued by EHA (‘Hematology beginners’ helper booklet’)
  • Reviewed teaching materials for transfusion

EHA2024 Congress

The EHA2024 Congress was held in Madrid, Spain, in June 2024.

Our SWG was involved in the following sessions:

  • Bleeding (educational session)
  • An SWG session on anemia in different clinical settings
  • A joint EHA-ISBT session on challenges and developments in transfusion medicine
  • A spotlight talk and a thematic debate

About 47 abstracts were submitted for the transfusion session and an oral abstract meeting was scheduled. The attendance was above our expectations.

Guidelines

‘Start- and stop-criteria for immunoglobulin suppletion in haematology patients suffering from treatment related secondary immune deficiency’

This guideline was developed in 2024 and approved by the EHA Guidelines Committee in 2025. A kick-off meeting was held at the EHA2025 Congress involving Cynthia So-Osman and Simon Stanworth.

Background

Demand for immunoglobulins (Ig) in Europe has more than doubled over the past 15 years. The SUPPLY project Working Package 6 (WP6) was completed to assess:

  • The appropriate use of Ig
  • Its prioritisation in times of crises amongst European (EU) member states (MS) and the United Kingdom (UK)

The SWG has contributed to:

  • The stakeholder meetings that were held in February and March 2024
  • ‘Strengthening voluntary non-remunerated plasma collection capacity in Europe’—a report for the SUPPLY project
  • The recommendations for the scope of Ig usage across medical specialties and different EU MS

The report integrates the feedback of stakeholders and offers a roadmap of final recommendations and concrete actions towards appropriate use and prioritisation of Ig in times of crisis.

The recommmendations focus on mitigating and prioritising strategies in times of crisis, particularly on the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA)

An SWG working party drafted statements on a number of topics.

These included contributions from Simon Stanworth (our current Chair) and Dorothea Evers.

Project groups

CAR T-cell therapy and complications

A prospective study in collaboration with BEST to investigate clinically significant bleeding and thrombotic events in patients who have undergone CAR T therapy for haematological malignancies.

Topics covered:

  • Incidence of bleeding complications—including the site and grading/identification of these
  • Incidence of thrombotic complications—including clinically significant thrombosis
  • Any additional risk factors associated with bleeding or thrombosis
  • Blood results, in particular fibrinogen and platelets
  • Current strategies to prevent bleeding or thrombosis and their efficacy
  • Thresholds for transfusion vs any other strategies

Plasma use in liver disease

A study in collaboration with ISTH to describe plasma use as part of an international point prevalence study of platelet and coagulation factor/plasma replacement in patients with cirrhosis.

This is known as ‘Practice of Transfusion in Cirrhosis’ or ‘PaTRIC.’

AIHA

A project group to explore options for research, starting with an international survey and possible registry of transfusion cases.

PETRA project (‘Towards a Pan-European Transfusion Research infrAstructure’)

Members of the SWG are actively participating in this project, which aims to connect data from the donor to the patient (‘vein-to-vein’ registries).

For more information on the project, visit the European Blood Alliance’s PETRA page.

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