Trends in exploitation of packed red blood cells

The following trends aim to a more efficient exploitation of packed red blood cells (PRBC): 1. Improvement of the operative distribution of PRBCs for transfusions before expiration. 2. Prolongation of the expiration time by monitoring the biochemical and physical processes during banking. Maintenance of native hemoglobin and restoration or substitution of substances involved in transport of energy and of oxygen are of utmost importance. Enzymic conversion of RBCs of blood group A, B to 0 is not supposed to leave laboratory scale soon. While cryo-conservation of RBCs with glycerine is known, freeze-drying of PRBCs remains a speculation. 3. Use of PRBCs after expiration as a raw material for products applicable in medicine and biochemistry. Stroma-free hemoglobin variants (SFH) are known as effective infusable oxygen carriers in experimental animal models. However, there is little convincing evidence on the metabolism and innocuity of SFH variants in human organism. Therefore, systemic infusion of SFH solutions is not yet acceptable to clinicians even in emergency situations. On the other hand, a broader use of SFH and its variants is anticipated and regarded as prospective in organ perfusion, cardioplegy and transplantation as well as in analytical biochemistry.