title: Microchimerism in the transfused obstetric population.
abstract: Microchimerism (MC), the coexistence of allogeneic populations of cells within a host, is well described in pregnancy and blood transfusion. To date, transfusion-associated MC (TA-MC) appears unique to patients transfused after severe traumatic injury. We sought to determine whether transfusion in the peripartum period results in enduring, high-level TA-MC. We conducted a prospective cohort study of 22 women who were newly transfused within 48 h of delivery. Two subjects showed evidence of transient TA-MC; however, MC was not detected at 6 weeks and 6 months. The negative findings suggest that enduring TA-MC does not occur in this population.
authors.affiliation: Blood Systems Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Bloch
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.forename: T-H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Montalvo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bruhn
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Stefan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D046528:Chimerism; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058725:Peripartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D018183:Transplantation Chimera / Q000276:immunology*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000628:therapy
keywords: blood transfusion; chimerism; peripartum