[History of autologous blood transfusion in neurosurgical operations]

The first report on predeposit autologous blood transfusion was made in 1921 by F.C. Grant, neurosurgeon in the University Hospital of Pennsylvania. The patient was a 42-year-old man with cerebellar tumor, having a rare blood type for which no donor had been listed up. 500 ml of autologous blood was obtained, kept in 0.2% sodium citrate solution in a refrigerator and retransfused following a suboccipital exploration. Clinically, no reaction was noted and there was a favorable postoperative course, and 'autotransfusion' was evaluated as a life-saving procedure. In 1925, L.E. Davis and H. Cushing reported the first case of intraoperative autotransfusion (intraoperative blood salvage). The patient was a 42-year-old man with left occipital meningioma which, due to massive bleeding, could not be removed even by two-stage operations. In a 3rd stage operation, they could remove the tumor of 120 g totally by the aid of intraoperative replacement using 600 ml autologous blood collected with a home-made suction apparatus. No adverse side-effect was noted. This procedure was performed for 23 cases and it revealed beneficial effects except in one case. In ten of the cases, the procedure was estimated as a life-saving treatment. At the present time, the appropriate use of the patients' blood for transfusion therapy is recommended due to a shortage of donors. The use of autologous blood could play a key role, not only in saving the homologous blood supply, but also in avoiding complications encountered in conventional transfusion treatments. The methods of 'Autotransfusion' originated from operations in the neurosurgical area. On that account, it is desirable that neurosurgeons should be concerned with this subject even now.