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The Perils of Platelet Transfusions

1997; Massachusetts Medical Society; Volume: 337; Issue: 26 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1056/nejm199712253372609

1533-4406

Margot S. Kruskall,

Neutropenia and Cancer Infections

The value of platelet transfusions for thrombocytopenia was first reported in 1910, when Duke described three patients with bleeding due to thrombocytopenia, each of whom showed improvement with transfusions of platelet-containing fresh, whole blood.1 This discovery was followed by the development of techniques to prepare platelet components, and platelet transfusions were shown to reduce the risk of death from hemorrhage substantially during chemotherapy for leukemia. The current reliance on platelet transfusions is reflected by the fact that in the United States there has been an increase in such transfusions of 5 to 7 percent annually since 1987, even as red-cell . . .