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Blood transfusion in sickle cell disease
1Central Middlesex Hospital, London, UK.
Blood transfusion can be life saving in sickle cell disease, both in emergencies and to prevent organ damage. Practice has developed through anecdote and experience so that patients are probably overexposed to transfusions in the developed world, whereas the majority of patients who live in the underdeveloped world do not have access to transfusion and those who do are exposed to unsafe practices. The role of transfusion medicine in sickle cell disease is also increasing with the development of bone marrow and solid organ transplant programs and placental stem cell banking. The modes and roles of transfusion in sickle cell disease as well as pharmacologic therapies are discussed. Multicenter, collaborative, randomized trials need to be developed, over the next few years, to study all aspects of transfusion in sickle cell disease.
Blood transfusion can be life saving in sickle cell disease, both in emergencies and to prevent organ damage. Practice has developed through anecdote and experience so that patients are probably overexposed to transfusions in the developed world, whereas the majority of patients who live in the underdeveloped world do not have access to transfusion and those who do are exposed to unsafe practices. The role of transfusion medicine in sickle cell disease is also increasing with the development of bone marrow and solid organ transplant programs and placental stem cell banking. The modes and roles of transfusion in sickle cell disease as well as pharmacologic therapies are discussed. Multicenter, collaborative, randomized trials need to be developed, over the next few years, to study all aspects of transfusion in sickle cell disease.