Safety of stored blood undergoing tests
Friday 15th April 2011
Following a host of recent studies querying the use of stored blood in transfusions, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in the US funded several pieces of research on the subject.
Early findings of these studies published in TRANSFUSION include that the mean age of stored red cells at the point of transfusion is 16 days.
However, whether the use of stored blood adversely affect patients' health is yet to be determined.
Paul M Ness, of Johns Hopkins, said: "[Early publication of the research] provides the transfusion community with a head start in learning more about what makes stored blood old, and provides advance opportunity for commercial industry to develop improved methods of blood storage that will mitigate adverse effects in patients."
Meanwhile, research carried out at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has found that fresh blood used for transfusion could potentially have a longer shelf life than was previous supposed.
It was revealed that blood retains its clotting properties for at least 11 days using standard refrigeration.
Written by Martin Lambert
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