Liquid-stored red blood cells for transfusion - A status report

Blood transfusion in a modern sense means the transfusion of red cells, whe n necessary supplemented by other components. The demand for plasma and pla sma fractions and for platelets for therapeutic use has had an influence on the technique for preparing red cells. Automated devices have made it poss ible to perform collection as well as separation under more standardized co nditions. Improved techniques for storage of red cells have prolonged the s helf life somewhat but most of the available methods disregard the rapid lo ss of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate and the accompanying increase in oxygen affini ty. Methods are available which reduce the number of contaminating leukocyt es to low levels, but information is still incomplete as to the degree of d epletion actually needed.