Frozen storage of 11 units of sickle cell red cells for autologous transfusion of a single patient.
A patient with sickle cell disease and multiple alloantibodies required frozen storage of autologous red cells (RBC) to provide the RBC volume equivalent of 6 units of normal donor blood for an orthopedic surgical procedure. Eleven 600-ml donations were made at 4-week intervals, without significant change in hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, or reticulocyte count, and with only small decreases in serum iron and ferritin concentrations. Minor modifications of a glycerolization and deglycerolization procedure described recently were used. We report in vitro recoveries of deglycerolized RBC from the 11 units following frozen storage for 27 to 391 days. Despite use of a single donor and adherence to a standardized processing protocol, considerable variation in the percent in vitro RBC recovery was observed (51-81%). In vivo survival of an aliquot following frozen storage for 27 days was identical with fresh autologous RBC (100% at 1 hr, 88% at 24 hr, one-half disappearance of 7.5 days). Autologous transfusion of RBC recovered from 7 units after storage for as long as 126 days was uneventful.
D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy*; D001793:Blood Preservation / Q000379:methods; D001804:Blood Transfusion, Autologous / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D001815:Bloodletting / Q000009:adverse effects; D004905:Erythrocyte Aging; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D017707:Erythrocyte Transfusion; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005615:Freezing; D005990:Glycerol / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors
D005990:Glycerol