title: Neonatal Transfusion Medicine: Five Major Unanswered Research Questions for the Twenty-First Century.
abstract: Blood component transfusions are important to the care of preterm neonates; however, their use in clinical practice often is not based on high levels of evidence. Five major questions for neonates are discussed: (1) What is the optimal red blood cell (RBC) transfusion threshold? (2) What is the optimal platelet transfusion threshold? (3) Does the storage age of an RBC unit affect outcomes? (4) Does RBC transfusion contribute to the pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis? and (5) Which new practices should be used to prevent transfusion-transmitted infections? Although definitive answers to these questions do not exist, future research should help answer them.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's National Health System, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 111 Michigan Avenue North West, Washington, DC 20010, USA.
authors.forename: Robert Sheppard
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Nickel
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Center for Transfusion and Cellular Therapies, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University, 1405 Clifton Road North East, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. Electronic address: cjoseph@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Cassandra D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Josephson
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009359:Neonatology / Q000379:methods*; D064826:Transfusion Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*
keywords: Neonatal transfusion; Storage age; Transfusion threshold; Transfusion-associated NEC; Transfusion-transmitted infection