ANALYSIS OF THE CASES OF TRANSFUSION-RELA TED UNDESIRABLE EFFECTS COLLECTED BY 15 BLOOD-TRANSFUSION CENTERS AND HOSPITALS FOR 17 MONTHS

The principal result of the development of hemovigilance since 1994 ha s been the declaration of undesirable effects likely to be due to tran sfusions of labile blood products. Using the 1694 cases of undesirable effects registered, it seemed worthwhile to us to analyze the distrib ution of the signs noticed, their frequency and the types of blood pro ducts responsible. This analysis allowed us to observe that the majori ty of reactions were shivery-feverish (47%) or allergic (24%). Most of them are Linked to platelet concentrate transfusions especially simpl e donor platelets (with a frequency of ten reactions for thousand aphe resis platelet concentrates transfused). In this study the frequency o f undesirable effects reported is 2 per 1000 apheresis platelet concen trate transfusions. Further investigations are necessary to determine the physiological mechanisms of these reactions and to estimate the de gree to which transfusions are responsible for their occurrence.