Evidence Based Studies in Clinical Transfusion Medicine

After the introduction of blood component therapy in the 1960s, more and more attention is given to clinical transfusion medicine. Although blood transfusion is an important treatment in different clinical settings, there are still lack of much randomized clinical trials. Nowadays blood transfusion can be called a safe treatment. This might be due to an increasing awareness of the effects and risks of blood transfusion. In clinical transfusion practice a transfusion trigger is handled for the prescription of blood transfusion. This transfusion trigger is based on hemoglobin (Hb) levels for red blood cell (RBC) transfusion and on platelet count for platelet transfusions. Possibilities to improve the safety of blood transfusion are improvement of the blood components and reduction of the amount of blood transfusions. This thesis describes 1) an in vitro study of a new pathogen technique for platelet concentrates and 2) a new model for RBC transfusion therapy for acute anemia. This model uses subjective health related quality of life criteria, which are validated in this thesis.

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