title: Transfusion of bone marrow red cells during bone marrow harvests.
abstract: Large volumes of bone marrow may be required for certain types of autologous bone marrow transplants. The present study was done to determine whether red cells obtained during a bone marrow harvest would be useful in reducing homologous transfusion requirements. A group of patients receiving standard transfusion support during the harvest (group 1) was compared to a group that received processed bone marrow red cells (PBMRBC) (group 2). Using the Cobe 2991 cell processor, 90% of the harvested bone marrow red cells were extracted and transfused during the procedure. Group 2 received a median of 1500 ml of blood processed from the bone marrow or 413 ml (volume of marrow processed x hematocrit) of red cells. Infusion of the PBMRBC reduced the homologous transfusion requirement from 6.5 units to 3.0 units (p = 0.02). In addition, group 1 had a 20% decrease in hematocrit following transfusion compared to the pre-harvest hematocrit, as opposed to an 8% decrease in group 2 (p = 0.02). This study indicates that PBMRBC can reduce the homologous transfusion requirements during an autologous bone marrow harvest.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D004905:Erythrocyte Aging; D017707:Erythrocyte Transfusion; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*