Spring at last …

It has been a season of extreme weather across the world. Perhaps fortunately, if less excitingly, this has not been reflected in events in Transfusion Medicine. Here, we have a line-up of reviews, articles and letters focussing on core themes in transfusion medicine including inter alia red cell antigens and serology and component production, storage and issue. We do have news of the Royal College of Pathologists’ Research Medal competition for young clinicians and laboratory scientists at the first stages of research in pathology, haematology or transfusion medicine (see Box). Unfortunately, this is out of necessity, limited to the United Kingdom but we would hope that similar initiatives occur through professional organisations across the world to encourage those beginning their scientific careers. In this issue we have two interesting reviews. One is from Professor Claudio Napoli and colleagues explaining how therapeutic apheresis, widely provided by transfusion medicine services, is an important tool in the management of patients with cardiac disease, not only for thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, but also for immune disorders affecting the heart and hyperlipidaemias (Pignalosa et al., 2014). Further expansion of these therapeutic services seems likely as technical improvements and additional tools and expertise enhance its application and reach. We would hope that randomised controlled trials will be prioritised to define the precise application of these powerful therapies. We have always encouraged a global view of the practice of transfusion medicine and are pleased to publish two thoughtful and thought provoking articles from the Indian sub-continent. Dr Shyamala outlines evidence of a high prevalence of transfusion-transmitted infection in chronically transfused thalassaemic patients and argues for reconsidering nucleic acid testing to reduce the prevalence of viral infections in blood (Shyamala, 2014). From Pakistan, Professor Zaheer and Dr Waheed from the Safe Blood Transfusion Programme describe strategic initiatives to deliver real improvements in blood safety, not only from the point of view of blood production, but also from blood banks and hospitals, where haemovigilance, good clinical practice, informed and improved by hospital transfusion com-