Therapeutic offers hope for improving blood transfusions

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have developed an unprecedented approach to restore nitric oxide (NO) to donated blood, a breakthrough that could dramatically reduce harmful effects from transfusions.

Jonathan Stamler, MD, and colleagues from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and from Duke University Medical Center report that restoring blood levels of NO in animals prior to transfusion improved their tissue blood flow, oxygen delivery, and kidney function.

Patients in the U.S. receive approximately 15 million blood transfusions a year. The procedure is often used to replace blood lost through trauma, but also can supplement shortages in a patient