Transfusion medicine is traditionally a strong/fundamental part of clinical practice, saving hundreds of millions of lives. However, blood-borne or transmitted infections are a well-known and feared possibility, a risk we relentlessly mitigate. Pathogens are continuously and rather quickly changing, so during the last decade, many, sometimes exotic, new pathogens and diseases were recorded and analyzed, and some of them were proved to be transmitted with transfusions. Blood or blood component transfusions are carried out after cautious preparative screening and inactivation maneuvers, but in some instances, newly recognized agents might escape from standard screening and inactivation procedures. Here, we try to focus on some of these proven or potentially pathogenic transfusion-transmitted agents, especially in immunocompromised patients or bone marrow transplantation settings. These pathogens are sometimes new challenges for preparative procedures, and there is a need for more recent, occasionally advanced, screening and inactivation methods to recognize and eliminate the threat a new or well-known pathogen can pose. Pathogen transmission is probably even more critical in hemophiliacs or bone marrow transplant recipients, who receive plasma-derived factor preparations or blood component transfusions regularly and in large quantities, sometimes in severely immunosuppressed conditions. Moreover, it may not be emphasized enough that transfusions and plasma-derived product administrations are essential to medical care. Therefore, blood-borne transmission needs continued alertness and efforts to attain optimal benefits with minimized hazards.

Summary: In 2014, an interim analysis of a phase 3 study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of ofatumumab in patients with bulky fludarabine‐refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (BFR CLL) as compared to physician’s choice. The five‐year follow‐up of this phase 3 trial showed that ofatumumab therapy resulted in a numerically but not significantly longer overall survival. As only few patients had the chance to receive a kinase inhibitor later, the study displays the survival of BFR CLL patients in the period prior to receiving small‐molecule inhibitors. Ofatumumab is a well‐tolerable treatment option in multiresistant advanced CLL.

A sarlósejtes anaemia homozigóta formában súlyos betegség, amely az élettartamot az afroamerikai populációban évtizedekkel ezelőtt még jelentősen megrövidítette. Ez a haemoglobinopathia jár az ismert hematológiai eltérések közül a legtöbb, vascularis talajon kialakuló idegrendszeri, cardiovascularis, pulmonalis, renalis, infektív és mozgásszervi szövődménnyel, ezért összehangolt és integrált szoros együttműködést kíván a hematológus, a belgyógyász, a kardiológus, az ideggyógyász, a szemész, a szülész és a gyermekgyógyász részéről. A multidiszciplináris megközelítés és a génmódosító kezelések az utóbbi időben javították a túlélést és az életminőséget. Afrika és az Amerikai Egyesült Államok mellett számos eltérő fejlettségű országban is sok, sarlósejtes anaemiában szenvedő beteggel lehet találkozni. A hazánkban tanuló vagy munkát vállaló személyek között is találkozhatunk a betegséggel, ezért indokolt a legújabb eredmények áttekintése. Orv Hetil. 2025; 166(39): 1531–1537.

Preparative and clinical transfusiology and transfusion, a majestic part of clinical medicine saved the life of hundred millions. However, bloodborne or transmitted infections became a serious issue in France in the 1980s, when many haemophiliacs were infected by HIV or hepatitis C virus by receiving plazma FactorVIII concentrates. This resulted in a quick and powerful development of screening as well as pathogen-inactivating methods, which reduced pathogen contamination and transmission to minimal levels. Times and pathogens are continously and rather quickly changing, so during the last decade many - not only egzotic - new pathogens and diseases were recognised, and some of them (e.g., Zyka virus, Ebola, hepatitis E virus, etc.) can also be transmitted by blood or blood-component transfusions, and in some instances they escape from standard screening and inactivation procedures. Hereby we try to focus and draw attention to some of these potentially pathogenic new bloodborne microbiological agents, and along with this we try to emphasize the significance of application of updated next generation screening and inactivation procedures. Interestingly a recent British trial, based on large population data, showed some evidence of a slight increase of non-Hodgkin lymphoma incidence in patients with multiple previous transfusions. Probably these facts are even more important in haemophiliacs, who receive prophylactic treatment 3 times weekly either by plasma factor concentrates derived from multiple donors or by gene synthetic factor sources. It is important that haemophiliac patient and family should receive the necessary information, and go for a fully informed consent based on the potential advantages and hazards of a particular treatment modality, the same way as in the chronic treatment of other diseases.

The author provides an overview of the use of recombinant activated FVII (rFVIIa, Novoseven), which is used over 30 years, based upon international publications and also on some modest own experience. Standard, approved indications (inhibitory cases, Glanzmann thrombasthenia, prophylaxis experience) are in the focus of this paper, emphasizing the specially rapid and efficacious way of Novoseven therapy, drawing attention to excellent safety issues regarding very low immunogenicity along with low number of thrombogenic complications. A careful, cautious and critical evaluation of Novoseven therapy is also provided in rather special forms of critical bleeding conditions considering international recommendations and institutional registry data. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(24): 923–928.

Treating relapsed and refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is still challenging for clinicians, but the available CAR-T and bispecific antibodies have revolutionized therapy. Autologous stem cell transplantation was the most effective treatment modality previously. The authors reported data from a single center over ten years. The retrospective study included 116 patients, with 53 relapsed cases, 39 primary refractory cases, 19 who had CNS involvement, and 5 who had received primary consolidation transplants. The median duration of follow-up was 46 months. The median event-free survival was 75 months, and the median overall survival was 105 months for all cases. Five-year overall survival was 59%, and event-free survival was 54%. Pretreatment prognostic factors at diagnosis had no effect on the outcome of transplantation. The authors found no difference between survival in relapsed or refractory cases, and the number of salvage lines or the germinal center/activated B-cell type also did not influence the results. Complete metabolic response before transplantation confirmed by ¹⁸FDG PET/CT strongly affected survival. The pre-transplant creatinine and CRP levels significantly influenced the long-term outcome. The number of stem cells infused did not affect survival, but engraftment within nine days did result in a longer survival. These data support the finding that the response to salvage therapy did facilitate the identification of a better prognostic group who may still benefit from autologous transplantation.