[Epidemiologic profile of very low birth weight infants treated with red blood cell transfusions]

during the neonatal period seventy to ninety percent of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants (birth weight < 1500 g), are transfused with red blood cells (RBC) at least once; that represents infectious, biochemical, immunologic and oxidative risks. The objective of this paper is to describe the epidemiological profile of the VLBW infants that are transfused with RBC.

a retrospective review of 61 VLBW newborns admitted to the Neonatology Unit of a tertiary care hospital in Monterrey, México was conducted. The sample was collected consecutively. The information included the newborns epidemiological profile and the characteristics of transfusion events.

the prevalence of transfused newborns was 70.5%, 82 transfusions were in the early postnatal period (<28 days) and 32 in the late postnatal period (> or = 28 days); 43.9% of newborns had mechanical ventilation and their fraction of inspired oxygen was > or = 0.3. Mean birth weight and standard deviation of VLBW newborns were 1206 +/- 198 g; the hematocrit before transfusion was 33.63 +/- 4.17 mg/dL, and the RBC volume per transfusion was 16.85 +/- 4.85 mL. On average, the newborns had two donors and two transfusions.

the epidemiological profile of the newborns included in this analysis was similar to published international reports. The transfusion characteristics suggest the possibility to apply restrictive guidelines and to evaluate a single-donor blood program for these newborns.