Blood transfusion and organ transplantation

During the last two decades it has been shown that blood transfusion enhances renal allograft survival. Recently, the introduction of cyclosporin A as the leading immunosuppressive agent has generally improved results and the relevance of blood transfusion to organ transplantation is now questioned. This review summarises the vast amount of knowledge on the 'blood transfusion effect in renal transplantation', and we cite important clinical studies of this topic to illustrate the various theories regarding the immune mechanisms responsible for these effects. We draw attention to the other immunomodulatory properties of blood transfusion which may be related to those associated with transplantation. In particular, we examine the possibility that perioperative blood transfusion may have a detrimental effect on the survival of cancer patients.