The resurgence of granulocyte transfusions

Granulocyte transfusion can be used as supportive therapy in patients with life-threatening neutropenia caused by bone marrow failure or in patients with neutrophil dysfunction. Emerging evidence demonstrates the benefits of granulocyte transfusions to treat infections in patients after treatment with high-dose chemotherapy, particularly the chemotherapy associated with conditioning for hematopoietic stem cell transplant. There has been an increased interest in the use of therapeutic granulocyte transfusion in recent years due to the ability to use granulocyte colony-stimulated factors to produce higher doses of granulocytes for transfusion. Other factors that influence the outcome of transfusion include the type of infection being treated, the likelihood of recipient marrow recovery, and recipient alloimmunization. This article provides a historical perspective on granulocyte transfusion and an overview of its clinical use.