Transfusion medicine reviews
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Review
Blood still kills: six strategies to further reduce allogeneic blood transfusion-related mortality.
After reviewing the relative frequency of the causes of allogeneic blood transfusion-related mortality in the United States today, we present 6 possible strategies for further reducing such transfusion-related mortality. These are (1) avoidance of unnecessary transfusions through the use of evidence-based transfusion guidelines, to reduce potentially fatal (infectious as well as noninfectious) transfusion complications; (2) reduction in the risk of transfusion-related acute lung injury in recipients of platelet transfusions through the use of single-donor platelets collected from male donors, or female donors without a history of pregnancy or who have been shown not to have white blood cell (WBC) antibodies; (3) prevention of hemolytic transfusion reactions through the augmentation of patient identification procedures by the addition of information technologies, as well as through the prevention of additional red blood cell alloantibody formation in patients who are likely to need multiple transfusions in the future; (4) avoidance of pooled blood products (such as pooled whole blood-derived platelets) to reduce the risk of transmission of emerging transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) and the residual risk from known TTIs (especially transfusion-associated sepsis [TAS]); (5) WBC reduction of cellular blood components administered in cardiac surgery to prevent the poorly understood increased mortality seen in cardiac surgery patients in association with the receipt of non-WBC-reduced (compared with WBC-reduced) transfusion; and (6) pathogen reduction of platelet and plasma components to prevent the transfusion transmission of most emerging, potentially fatal TTIs and the residual risk of known TTIs (especially TAS).
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Plasma protein therapies have been sheltered historically from the scrutiny of evidence-based medicine. Thus, a number of albumin solutions became part of the established therapeutic armamentarium with a very modest evidence base. As evidence-based medicine has turned its focus on plasma protein therapies, albumin's appropriate use has become increasingly questioned. ⋯ Albumin's manufacture yields products which vary between different brands, as well as occasionally between batches from the same brand. These changes affect albumin's physiologic properties and may contribute to the different therapeutic effects observed in clinical practice. More clinical investigations of albumin's therapeutic role are needed before its unique biological features can be shown to result in therapeutically useful drugs.
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The management of dilutional coagulopathy due to fluid infusion and massive blood loss is a topic that deserves a biochemical approach. In this review article, we provide an overview of current guidelines and recommendations on diagnosis and on management of transfusion in acquired coagulopathy. ⋯ The available evidence suggests that a combination of assay types is required for evaluating new transfusion protocols aimed to optimize hemostasis and stop bleeding. Although there is current consensus on the application of fresh frozen plasma to revert coagulopathy, factor concentrates may appear to be useful in the future.
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Since a report in October 2007 of dramatic improvements in trauma mortality in a military population when massive transfusion of red blood cells (RBC) was accompanied by plasma replacement at 1:1 proportions, interest in the plasma-to-RBC ratio during resuscitation in both the trauma and transfusion communities has been intense. Over the 7-month period from August 2008 through February 2009, a further 9 major studies examining experience with plasma replacement in massively transfused civilian trauma patients have been published. This flood of observational studies is likely to continue. In this review, the authors examine the findings of these initial studies, highlighting the epidemiologic and analytic methodologies used, and the likely influence of these methodologies on the reported outcomes.
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Cryoprecipitate is a diverse product containing factor VIII, von Willebrand factor, fibrinogen, fibronectin, factor XIII, and platelet microparticles. The role of this complex product in the management of hemostasis has not been well studied (excluding patients with factor VIII deficiency). There are insufficient data to determine the clinical setting where this product might be clinically efficacious despite its widespread use in multiple different clinical scenarios. ⋯ The most common current indication for the use of this product is hypofibrinogenemia in the setting of massive hemorrhage. There are insufficient data in the literature to determine the efficacy, safety, and dosage in this patient population. Despite 45 years of the use of this product, we still have a lot to learn regarding the optimal use of cryoprecipitate.