Laboratory services
Our laboratories conduct tests to ensure the safety and quality of the Blood Service’s blood and cell products and to meet various healthcare needs.
The number of laboratory tests for blood transfusions was similar to that of 2022. Also similarly to 2022, the number of tests on maternity clinic specimens continued to fall slightly due to the declining birth rate in Finland. The number of tests for organ transplantations, particularly the number of tissue typing tests performed outside office hours, increased significantly on the previous year, reflecting the record-high number of transplantations in Finland in 2023.
We improved our HLA testing kit, used to examine compatibility between the patient and the donor before organ and stem cell transplantations, by increasing the precision and scope of sample testing. As a result of this change, more accurate results will be available earlier for the planning of transplantations.
The number of blood donor screening tests reflected the number of blood donations and was down a little.
Blood Service laboratory tests for healthcare units
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tests for blood typing | 14 551 | 14 761 | 14 902 |
| Red blood cell antibody identification | 4 712 | 4 223 | 4 198 |
| Blood transfusion tests performed urgently and outside office hours | 2 668 | 2 615 | 2 727 |
| Tests on maternity clinic specimens | 72 087 | 66 899 | 66 064 |
| Tissue compatibility tests | 10 493 | 9 754 | 9 606 |
HIV and hepatitis (B and C) viruses and syphilis in blood donor samples
Careful donor selection ensures that very few carriers of the HIV or hepatitis viruses are identified when the blood is tested for infection.
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hepatitis B | 5 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 11 |
| Hepatitis C | 8 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 14 |
| HIV | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Syphilis | 9 | 7 | 12 | 4 | 4 |
Organ transplantations performed in Finland (Source: Scandiatransplant)
The Blood Service performs tissue typing for all organ transplantations performed in Finland and assesses tissue compatibility between the transplant recipients and the organ donors in a centralized manner.
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kidney | 293 | 263 | 268 | 250 | 321 |
| Liver | 64 | 75 | 75 | 62 | 78 |
| Heart | 30 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 19 |
| Lungs | 27 | 21 | 24 | 20 | 28 |
| Pancreas | 39 | 26 | 31 | 20 | 28 |
| Other | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 453 | 408 | 420 | 371 | 476 |
| Deceased Finnish organ donors | 141 | 121 | 119 | 113 | 150 |
| Live Finnish organ donors (kidney) | 25 | 31 | 46 | 42 | 45 |