When is a unit of blood transfused relative to its date of expiration?

W J Judd1, S H Butch

  • 1Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Transfusion
|June 1, 1991
PubMed

Analysis of computer-generated data from 42,902 transfusions of red cells or whole blood reveales that 30 percent of Rh-positive and 46.5 percent of Rh-negative units of blood will be lost from inventory if the permissible storage time for blood is immediately reduced to 25 days. These data indicate that, should such a reduction be adopted as a means of preventing transfusion-transmitted Yersinia infection, the blood banking industry will have serious difficulties in maintaining an adequate blood supply.

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