Deferring plasma from multiparous females has dramatically reduced the incidence of antibody-mediated transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI). Some observational studies suggest that donor sex may also affect the outcome of red blood cell (RBC) transfusions. Two papers recently published have examined RBC transfusion outcomes based on donor sex. The first study followed a cohort (N=6992) of critically ill adult patients from two hospitals in the Netherlands during 2011-2013. Of the 1486 critically ill patients in the cohort who received transfusions, 403 patients received unisex-transfusions (i.e., blood from only female or male donors). Female ICU patients who received female RBCs had the highest chance of survival while male patients receiving female RBCs had the lowest chance of survival 30 days from ICU admission (P<0.05). However, a second study in Sweden followed 368,778 adult patients registered in the national blood bank and health databases who received a RBC transfusion from 2010-2017. After taking into account the lower hemoglobin values of female donors, two-year mortality was similar for patients who received RBCs from female or male donors. Further studies are needed to better understand donor-recipient variables that affect RBC transfusion outcomes.
References:
- Alshalani A, Uhel F, Cremer OL, Schultz MJ, et al. Donor-recipient sex is associated with transfusion-related outcomes in critically ill patients. Blood Advances 2022 (6); 3260-3267.
- Xhao J, Sjölander A, and Edgren G. Mortality among patient undergoing blood transfusion in relation to donor sex and parity. JAMA Internal Medicine 2022
