Caitlin Raymond on Platelet Refractoriness: New Series Alert!
Caitlin Raymond, a board-certified Clinical Pathologist and current Transfusion Medicine Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, shared on LinkedIn:
“New Blog Post: Platelet Refractoriness — An Overview
One of the most frustrating challenges in transfusion medicine is when platelet transfusions don’t “stick.”
Platelet refractoriness is common, multifactorial, and has huge implications for bleeding risk, patient outcomes, and stewardship of scarce blood products.
In this post, I walk through:
- How we define and measure refractoriness (CCI)
- Why non-immune causes (like sepsis, bleeding, or splenomegaly) are the most common and should be ruled out first
- How we evaluate immune causes with HLA typing, antibody screens, PRA, and crossmatches
- Practical management strategies, from HLA-compatible platelets to PRA-guided selection
- The real-world challenges of balancing ideal care with limited resources
Key takeaway: Refractoriness isn’t rare—and a structured approach can make transfusion both safer for patients and more sustainable for the blood supply.”
Read the full post here.
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