VER THE PAST DECADE, SEVeral studies have suggested that blood transfusions depress immune function in recipients. 1,2 Evidence of transfusion-associated immune suppression emerged following observations that blood transfusions improved renal allograft survival 3 and accelerated 4 and increased postoperative infections. 5 A recent randomized controlled trial undertaken to examine infections in cardiovascular surgical patients found an approximately 4.2% absolute decrease in mortality but no decrease in

The frequency of reactions to plasma-removed platelets and prestorage WBC-reduced platelets was not significantly different; however, the power of the study for this comparison was low. There was no difference in the frequency of reactions to the two types of prestorage WBC-reduced platelets. The frequency of severe reactions to prestorage WBC-reduced platelets is low, occurring in only 1 to 2 percent of transfusions.

A simple and valid prediction rule is developed for predicting the risk of blood transfusion in patients undergoing first-time elective CABG surgery.

Ten weeks of intravenous arginine butyrate did not produce a hematologic response in 10 patients with either severe beta-thalassemia or sickle cell disease.

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These data support the hypothesis that allogeneic red cell transfusion is an independent risk factor for the development of postoperative bacterial infection in patients undergoing colorectal surgery. This association provides further reason to minimise exposure to allogeneic transfusions in the perioperative setting.

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IVIG shortages were followed by a decrease in the number of single-use recipients, who probably represented empirical use of IVIG; this had little effect on the total amount of IVIG distributed annually. Stricter adherence to currently available published recommendations may not be the optimal means of controlling IVIG use within an academic hospital setting. Rather, emphasis may be better placed on improving the evidence base upon which these recommendations are made, for example by conducting controlled prospective clinical trials.