Hello Blood Bank World,
I am having a tough time figuring out the requirements to be able to use expired panel cells as part of a workup. I started as supervisor at my current place of work less than a year ago and I cannot find any mention of or documentation that expired panel cells are appropriate or what steps to take in any procedure. Currently, the techs are using expired panel cells. They are antigen typing the cell for Fya antigen to prove the cell is reactive with an antigen that is known to be less stable with length of storage.
Where I worked before, we had to antigen type the out of date cell for the antigen that we were using the cell to rule out. EX: Using cell to rule out M in the presence of Anti-S, type the cell for M antigen to prove that the specific antigen is still reactive on the expired cell. This option makes more sense to me.
Does anyone know which way is correct? I'm currently updating the procedure to write it in officially. Also, I've seen mention of a validation needing to be performed, does anyone know what kind of validation, if any, is necessary? I have no record of validation being performed either.
HELP!
