Book Description

"Since the first recorded successful blood transfusion was performed in 1665 and the first Intensive Care Unit (ICU) was founded in 1952, a transfusion has gradually become a common medical procedure in the ICU. However, recent studies have shown an association between transfusion and adverse outcome. This thesis contains both clinical and pre-clinical investigations of the effects of a transfusion in the critically ill. The studies focus on investigations of mechanisms of the association between transfusion and adverse outcome and are clustered in three parts that each focus on one of the different blood components and have its own aims: Red blood cells (I): To investigate the role of storage red blood cells as well as the presence of an inflammatory condition on the association between RBC transfusion and host response. Fresh frozen plasma (II): To assess the effect of a FFP transfusion on host response and hemostatic balance in critically ill patients. Platelets (III): To assess the effect of platelet transfusion on the development of infections in critically ill patients."--Samenvatting auteur.