Quality of stored blood questioned

LONDON, May 20 (UPI) -- There may be significant differences between new and old red blood cells used for transfusions, researchers in Britain suggest.

One of the lead study authors, Dr. Jay Mehrishi, a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists and formerly of the University of Cambridge, says recent trials on cardiac surgery patients involving more than 40,000 patients showed that transfused blood older than 14 days produced serious side effects.

Currently, blood stored in a special medium can be used for clinical transfusion for up to 42 days, but monitoring of the blood varies, Mehrishi says.

"The side effects of transfusing old blood are thought to result in acute lung injury and possible adverse effects of the immune system," Mehrishi says in a statement. "In severe trauma patients, transfusion of blood stored for more than 28 days doubled the incidence of deep vein thrombosis and increased death secondary to multiple organ failure. Our research will hopefully highlight the significant differences between old and new blood used in transfusions as well as the possibility of using our technique to quickly and cheaply monitor blood supply quality."

The findings are published in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.