International heart journal
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Whole blood transfusion generates an inflammatory response and may contribute to organ dysfunction following cardiopulmonary bypass. We established a miniaturized (minimum 140 mL) and biocompatible bypass system to reduce perioperative inflammatory responses and avoid blood transfusions. This study was designed to reveal the influences of stored red blood cell (RBC) transfusions on perioperative inflammatory responses in infants. ⋯ The p-CRP and p-NC in patients with transfusion was significantly greater than those in patients without transfusion (CRP 8.1 +/- 5.1 versus 5.5 +/- 3.0 mg/dL, P < 0.05, p-NC 14.6 +/- 4.5 versus 12.0 +/- 4.0 x 1000/mm3, P < 0.05). Multivariate analyses showed that RBC transfusion most affected p-WBC (coefficient: 3.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79-6.99, P = 0.015) and p-NC (coefficient: 3.64, 95% CI 0.87-6.40, P = 0.011). The RBC transfusions increased the perioperative inflammatory responses, compared to transfusion-free procedures, even when using a miniaturized biocompatible bypass with an asanguineous prime.