[Challenges of transfusion medicine]

Transfusion medicine has the logic of a therapeutic chain applied to labile blood components and cell therapy products, within a coherent structure, such as the recently created Etablissement français du sang. Faced to the threat of emerging--sometimes hypothetical--transfusion risks, such as the possible transmission of BSE by blood transfusion, the precaution principle requires developing strategies to reduce labile blood components consumption, by strictly defining the framework of blood transfusion prescription and encouraging the search for red blood cell and platelet substitutes. In the field of alternatives to labile blood components, research has however yielded few results. The future of transfusion medicine lies in biotechnology: cell (and gene) therapy will become part of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of numerous pathologies in man. Transfusion medicine will have to consider the significant advances achieved over the last few years in the field of multipotent stem cells. Transfusion medicine will thus find its place in the promising field of innovating therapies.

Research opportunities in transfusion medicine

In recent years, the translation of basic research in transfusion medicine has led to development of novel cellular therapies using well-characterized cell populations isolated from either bone marrow or blood (eg, hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, T lymphocytes, dendritic cells). Refinements in cell therapies will make possible optimal stem cell engraftment, gene therapy, immunotherapy of cancer and infectious disease, and even solid organ regeneration. Moreover, the immune consequences of transfusion therapy are better appreciated and opportunities are at hand to prevent or blunt unwanted immune responses, such as platelet refractoriness and graft-vs-host disease. Transfusion medicine has become a broad, multidisciplinary field that has evolved beyond issues related to blood procurement and storage. The next series of advances in transfusion medicine will complement the current approaches of donor blood screening and viral/bacterial inactivation steps to ensure a safe and adequate blood supply.

The potential impact of incentives on future blood donation behavior

BACKGROUND

It is important to assess the potential efficacy and safety of offering donation incentives as part of recruitment and retention programs.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

In 1995, 7489 allogeneic donors responded to an anonymous mail survey that inquired about demographics, donation history, infectious disease risks, and the potential appeal of incentives.

RESULTS

The projected net effect of offering blood credits and medical testing would be to motivate, respectively, 58 percent and 46 percent of donors to return, whereas offering an item of limited value would motivate 20 percent to do so. First-time and younger donors reported more frequently than repeat or older donors that incentives would appeal to them. Donors attracted by cash were 60 percent more likely to have a risk for transfusion-transmissible infections (p = 0.03). Although not statistically significant, the odds of being an at-risk donor were higher among individuals attracted by tickets to events (OR 1.5) and extra time off work (OR 1.2).

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that offering blood credits and (though to a lesser extent) items of limited value could be safe and effective strategies for retaining donors. Although medical tests were found to have broad appeal, studies are needed to identify tests in which donors would be most interested.

Blood management and patient specific transfusion options in total joint replacement surgery

Strategies for blood management in the perioperative period of total joint replacement are changing with the better understanding of blood loss and blood replacement options in this population. The preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative options for blood management are outlined. Rationale for patient specific options are described.

Logistics of parenteral fluids in battlefield resuscitation

The paper discusses the substantial reduction in weight and volume of the fluids of resuscitation that is possible and desirable on the basis of sound physiology and the vast experience of the U.S. Army in four major wars in this century. We note the major shift in emphasis from massive colloid and whole blood in World War II and Korea to massive crystalloid and packed cells in Vietnam and the serious complications with which this was associated. These complications were edematous in nature and best known as the Da Nang lung, or adult respiratory distress syndrome, multiorgan dysfunction syndrome, and systemic inflammatory response syndrome. The advantage of colloid in reducing the weight and volume of resuscitation fluids in forward areas by 60% to 90%, as well as in avoiding the edematous complications of crystalloid-, are emphasized.

The changing relationships in transfusion medicine

Maintaining quality in provision of transfusion services in the face of mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, and risk-sharing relationships between organizations that formerly conducted business in a traditional vendor-purchaser model is the ultimate challenge. Publications, both lay and professional, highlight the speed and nature of the impetus for change, especially in the United States, where managed care philosophies are driving a bottom-line mentality. Blood collection and transfusion organizations are developing new relationships, including entry of for-profit entities into a formerly virtually exclusively not-for-profit environment, provision of transfusion services by formerly exclusive blood collection entities and vice versa, outsourcing of selected portions, and other innovative relationships, with significantly more competitive marketing strategies. Measures of quality of transfusion services should benchmark current practices, if possible, before entering into new relationships to ensure that the quality of patient care remains high. Concerns about the fiscal viability of organizations should not minimize safety and availability of blood for transfusion when needed.

Impact of innovations on transfusion medicine

The final decade of the last century of the second millennium ad has seen dramatic changes in all aspects of science and health care. In transfusion medicine, the blood supply is the safest it has ever been. Newer refinements and innovations are continuously being researched and implemented to achieve and further enhance safety. Advances in blood conservation, pharmacologic manipulation, engineered blood derivatives, and recombinant growth factors can now provide safer and more effective alternatives to blood transfusions for many patients. This overview highlights selective innovations in transfusion medicine and emphasizes some significant advances that have occurred in blood donor screening, blood component collections and therapy, and laboratory testing. Newer technologies are anticipated that will further enhance the safety of blood and transfusions and potentially augment annually the blood supply on a worldwide basis.

Multimodal strategy for reduction of homologous transfusions in cranio-maxillofacial surgery

The transfusion of homologous blood carries well-known risks that have prompted efforts to develop alternative techniques. Such measures are of particular interest to patients undergoing elective procedures. A total of 204 patients, out of 1470 patients who consecutively underwent major craniomaxillofacial procedures under general anesthesia over a two-year period, were enrolled in a prospective protocol to reduce homologous transfusion requirements when a blood loss in excess of 500 ml was anticipated. The data were compared with the results of a retrospective control group (n=2890) covering major procedures during the previous four years, when blood-saving measures were applied occasionally, but not based on a global strategy. Techniques for the reduction of homologous transfusions were acute normovolemic hemodilution, controlled moderate hypotension, cell saver and predeposit autologous blood. In addition, preoperative administration of human recombinant erythropoietin was introduced during the last year of the study. These techniques were applied individually or in combination, depending on contraindications specific for each technique, using invasive monitoring in order to maintain intraoperative hemodynamic stability. The goal of this study was to examine the extent to which homologous transfusions may be reduced with the systematic application of transfusion-sparing techniques. Of 204 patients qualifying for the transfusion-sparing protocol, 30 received homologous transfusions. In comparison to the control group, utilization of transfusion-sparing techniques had doubled. The overall reduction in the use of homologous transfusions was highly significant. When acute normovolemic hemodilution, controlled moderate hypotension and the cell saver were used in combination, a greater reduction in homologous transfusions was achieved than with the use of either a single modality or combination of any two. No transfusions were required in patients pretreated with erythropoietin.