Transfusion
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Signs and symptoms associated with the transfusion of WBC-reduced RBCs and non-WBC-reduced RBCs in patients with anemia and HIV infection: results from the Viral Activation Transfusion Study.
RBC transfusion is associated with fever and other reactions in some patients. The Viral Activation Transfusion Study randomly assigned patients to receive either unmodified or WBC-reduced RBCs and thus offered an opportunity to assess the effect of WBC-reduced RBCs on the incidence of transfusion reactions prospectively. ⋯ The incidence of elevated temperature and hypotension associated with transfusion in this population was unexpectedly high. Use of WBC-reduced RBCs had no effect on the overall rates of elevated temperature or hypotension associated with transfusion of RBCs. The occurrence of a pre-existing fever was associated with a higher frequency of transfusion-associated elevated temperature.