What Does Transfusion Burden Mean in Acute Myeloid Leukemia?
What Does Transfusion Burden Mean in Acute Myeloid Leukemia? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.
What do acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients need to know about transfusion burden? Dr. Catherine Lai from Penn Medicine explains transfusion burden for AML patients. Learn about the range of transfusion burden and advice from an expert.
[ACT]IVATION TIP from Dr. Lai: “Discuss how frequently transfusions are needed and how long you may be able to go without needing a blood or platelet transfusion with your physician.“
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Transcript:
Art:
Dr. Lai, what does transfusion burden mean in AML?
Dr. Catherine Lai:
Yeah, so transfusion burden is the amount of either patients’ blood that you have to receive and or platelets that you have to receive.
So when we say that somebody is transfusion-dependent, that means that they on their weekly blood checks or having to receive transfusions multiple times, whether it be twice a week or once a week, but somebody who cannot make enough blood and our platelets on their own to stay within a safe range and that they need to receive transfusions.
Typically. now, this is again specific for an individual patient, but in general, most centers use parameters such as the hemoglobin less than 7, in which they get transfused red blood cells and a platelet count less than 10,000 for platelet counts, assuming that patients are feeling well and are healthy and they’re not bleeding.
So here the activation tip would be to discuss how frequently transfusions are needed and how long you may be able to go without needing a blood or platelet transfusion with your physician.
