Katerina Pavenski

Dr Katerina Pavenski is the Head of the Division of Transfusion Medicine, clinical hematologist, medical director of the Therapeutic Apheresis and Patient Blood Management at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto.

She obtained B.Sc. at the University of Manitoba (1997). She completed Doctor of Medicine degree (2001), residencies in Internal Medicine (2004) and Adult Clinical Hematology (2006) at the University of Toronto.

She completed a residency in Transfusion Medicine at the McMaster University, Hamilton (2008).

She joined St. Michael’s in 2009. She is an associate professor in the Department of Pathobiology and Laboratory Medicine and cross-appointed to the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto.

Her research interests include clinical transfusion medicine, patient blood management, therapeutic apheresis, and TTP/cm-HUS.

She is the Chair of the Ontario Blood Advisory Committee, member of the National Advisory Committee on Blood and Blood Products, the Chair of the Topics Committee of the ICTMG (International Collaboration for Transfusion Medicine Guidelines) and the Chair of the Local Organizing Committee for the 35th International Congress of the ISBT (the International Society of Blood Transfusion) June 2-6 2018, Toronto, Canada.

Research Synopsis

I am involved in clinical collaborative research and transfusion guideline development.

In the area of transfusion medicine, I am interested in blood and blood component utilization as well as complications of blood transfusions.

I am a member of the International Collaborative for Transfusion Medicine Guidelines (ICTMG) and the Chair of its Topics Committee.

In the area of patient blood management, my interests are in use of tranexamic acid to reduce transfusions in elective surgery and in management of anemia in preoperative patients.

I am interested in all aspects of therapeutic apheresis, including indications and complications.

I am a site co-investigator on a multi-centre RCT on the use of plasmapheresis in patients with ANCA vasculitis (PEXIVAS).

I am also involved in studies related to diagnosis, prognostic markers, treatments and long-term outcomes of patients with thrombotic microangiopathies, specifically TTP and aHUS

Recent Publications

Risks of novel therapeutics: gonococcemia in an immune-suppressed patient receiving eculizumab. Khandelwal A, Wright JK, Pavenski K, Taggart LR. CMAJ. 2017 Dec 18;189(50):E1558-E1560. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.170508

Simulation as a toolkit-understanding the perils of blood transfusion in a complex health care environment.Campbell DM, Poost-Foroosh L, Pavenski K, Contreras M, Alam F, Lee J, Houston P. Adv Simul (Lond). 2016 Dec 8;1:32. doi: 10.1186/s41077-016-0032-z. eCollection 2016.

Consensus on the standardization of terminology in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and related thrombotic microangiopathies. Scully M, Cataland S, Coppo P, de la Rubia J, Friedman KD, Kremer Hovinga J, Lämmle B, Matsumoto M, Pavenski K, Sadler E, Sarode R, Wu H; International Working Group for Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. J Thromb Haemost. 2017 Feb;15(2):312-322. doi: 10.1111/jth.13571. Epub 2017 Jan 30

How we treat thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: Results of a Canadian TTP practice survey. Patriquin CJ, Clark WF, Pavenski K, Arnold DM, Rock G, Foley SR; Canadian Apheresis Group. J Clin Apher. 2017 Aug;32(4):246-256. doi: 10.1002/jca.21489. Epub 2016 Jul 31

Bleeding complications from the direct oral anticoagulants. Sholzberg M, Pavenski K, Shehata N, Cserti-Gazdewich C, Lin Y. BMC Hematol. 2015 Dec 24;15:18. doi: 10.1186/s12878-015-0039-z. eCollection 2015

Universal tranexamic acid therapy to minimize transfusion for major joint arthroplasty: a retrospective analysis of protocol implementation. Baker JE, Pavenski K, Pirani RA, White A, Kataoka M, Waddell JP, Ho A, Schemitsch EH, Lo N, Bogoch ER, Pronovost A, Luke K, Howell A, Nassis A, Tsui AK, Tanzini RM, Pulendrarajah R, Mazer CD, Freedman J, Hare GM. Can J Anaesth. 2015 Nov;62(11):1179-87. doi: 10.1007/s12630-015-0460-6. Epub 2015 Sep 3

Guidance on platelet transfusion for patients with hypoproliferative thrombocytopenia. Nahirniak S, Slichter SJ, Tanael S, Rebulla P, Pavenski K, Vassallo R, Fung M, Duquesnoy R, Saw CL, Stanworth S, Tinmouth A, Hume H, Ponnampalam A, Moltzan C, Berry B, Shehata N; International Collaboration for Transfusion Medicine Guidelines. Transfus Med Rev. 2015 Jan;29(1):3-13. doi: 10.1016/j.tmrv.2014.11.004. Epub 2014 Nov 27.

Compliance with a massive transfusion protocol (MTP) impacts patient outcome. Bawazeer M, Ahmed N, Izadi H, McFarlan A, Nathens A, Pavenski K. Injury. 2015 Jan;46(1):21-8. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2014.09.020. Epub 2014 Oct 5. Review

Thrombotic microangiopathy in a patient with adult-onset Still's disease. Rawal S, Einbinder Y, Rubin L, Perl J, Trinkaus M, Teitel J, Pavenski K. Transfusion. 2014 Nov;54(11):2983-7. doi: 10.1111/trf.12708. Epub 2014 May 20

Efficacy of HLA-matched platelet transfusions for patients with hypoproliferative thrombocytopenia: a systematic review. Pavenski K, Rebulla P, Duquesnoy R, Saw CL, Slichter SJ, Tanael S, Shehata N; International Collaboration for Guideline Development, Implementation and Evaluation for Transfusion Therapies (ICTMG) Collaborators. Transfusion. 2013 Oct;53(10):2230-42. doi: 10.1111/trf.12175. Epub 2013 Apr 3. Review.

Appointments

Chair of the Ontario Blood Advisory Committee
Member of the National Advisory Committee on Blood and Blood Products
Chair of the Topics Committee of the ICTMG (International Collaboration for Transfusion Medicine Guidelines)