Adverse Effects of Transfusion
The adverse effects of transfusion and their frequency are shown in Table 4:
Table 4: Risks Associated with Transfusion of Blood Components
|
Risk
|
Type of Risk
|
Frequency
|
|
Hemolytic reaction
|
Acute
|
1:13,000
|
|
Delayed
|
1:9,000
|
|
Febrile, non-hemolytic
|
|
1:500; 1:15 platelet pools
|
|
TRALI
|
|
1:100,000; 1:10,000 platelet pools
|
|
Allergic
|
|
1:250; 1:25 platelet pools
|
|
Anaphylaxis
|
|
1:23,000; 1:1,600 platelet pools
|
|
Graft vs Host disease
|
|
Probably <1:1 million
|
|
Circulatory overload
|
|
~ 1% of recipients
|
|
Air embolism
|
|
Very rare
|
|
Exogenous material
|
|
Very rare
|
|
Hypothermia
Citrate toxicity
Hyper/hypokalemia
|
|
Unlikely unless >1.5 blood volumes transfused
|
|
Iron Overload
|
|
Begins after 20th unit
|
|
Alloimmunization
|
RBCs
|
8% of recipients
|
|
Platelets
|
50% in multiply transfused
|
|
Viral infections
|
HIV
|
1:4 million
|
|
HTLV-I & II
|
Virtually nil
|
|
HAV
|
Very rare
|
|
HBV
|
1:31,000 to 1:82,000
|
|
HCV
|
1: 3 million
|
|
HGV
|
Common, no known disease
|
|
TTV
|
Common, no known disease
|
|
CMV
|
Unknown; CMV neg to high risk
|
|
Parvovirus B19
|
Disease rare
|
|
WNV
|
See recent CBS info
|
|
Prions
|
CJD, vCJD
|
Theoretical
|
|
Bacterial agents
|
Sepsis, severe symptomatic
|
1:500,000; 1:10,000 platelet pools
|
|
Syphilis
|
Virtually nil
|
|
Ehrlichiosis
|
Very rare
|
|
Lyme disease
|
Theoretical
|
|
Parasites
|
Malaria
|
1:4 million
|
|
Babesiosis
|
Very rare
|
|
Chagas’ disease
|
Very rare
|
The above information is mainly derived from data published by Kleinman et al (2003), Ref. 18,19.
|
