Blood Storage for Transfusion

By J. M. HOUSTON, M.D., B.SC. Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast THIS is a preliminary report describing the storage of blood for transfusion, and comparing the results obtained in the first fifty cases transfused with those of fresh blood transfusions. Blood storage is a definite advance in blood transfusion therapy, the use of such blood having a number of advantages over fresh blood; notably the saving of time, and the fact that the blood may be collected to suit the mutual convenience of the donor and of the doctor responsible for the venesection. Thus its advantage in an emergency, and in war time when many urgent transfusions may be necessary, would be very great. It is also a means of avoiding the waste of blood, as the blood collected from cases where venesection is done as a therapeutic measure need no longer be thrown away, but may be kept until a suitable occasion arises for its use. In addition to the healthy donor and the therapeutic venesection, the source of the blood may be from the placenta or the cadaver. Cadaver blood differs from that from other sources in that it is said not to require the addition of anticoagulant preserving solution. The method has been employed to a considerable extent in Russia, and is still on trial. Most of the blood which I have stored was obtained from therapeutic venesections, and included cases of hypertension, cardiac failure, and polycythaemia. Albuminuria or an increase in the blood urea do not constitute a bar to the use of the blood, and such blood has been used with similar results to the blood from normal donors. Some of the bloods were from healthy subjects, and a few were placental. The number of anticoagulant preserving solutions used is large, but after trying many different solutions I have found the following, composed by mixing one part Solution 1 with three parts Solution 2, before use, to give the best results: Solution 1 Sodium Citrate . . . . . 3.8 g. Bi-distilled Water . . . . 100 c.c. Solution 2 Glucose . . . 5.0 g. Bi-distilled Water . . . . . 100 c.c.