1.
The effect of blood storage duration on in-hospital mortality: a randomized controlled pilot feasibility trial
Heddle NM, Cook RJ, Arnold DM, Crowther MA, Warkentin TE, Webert KE, Hirsh J, Barty RL, Liu Y, Lester C, et al
Transfusion. 2012;52((6):):1203-12.
Abstract
BACKGROUND Whether the duration of storage of blood has an impact on patient outcomes remains controversial. The objective was to determine feasibility of a comparative effectiveness trial to evaluate duration of storage of blood before transfusion on in-hospital mortality. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS A single-center randomized controlled trial was performed at an acute care hospital in Canada between June and December 2010, involving consecutive hospitalized patients needing blood transfusion. Patients (n=910) were randomly assigned in a 1:2 ratio to receive freshest available versus standard-issue (oldest available) blood. Four feasibility criteria were measured: proportion of eligible patients randomized, contrast in age of blood between treatment groups, real-time data acquisition, and trial impact on blood outdating. In-hospital mortality was also reported. RESULTS A total of 1075 of 1129 patients (95.2%) were eligible and 910 of 1075 (84.7%) were randomized: 309 received freshest available blood (1157 units), and 601 received standard-age blood (2369 units). Contrast in mean age of the oldest blood transfused between groups was 14.6 days: 12.0 (standard deviation [SD], 6.8) days in the fresh arm and 26.6 (SD, 7.8) days in the standard arm. Weekly recruitment and event reporting were achieved for all patients. The blood outdate rate was 0.10%. In-hospital mortality was 10.5%: 35 deaths (11.3%) in the fresh arm and 61 deaths (10.1%) in the standard arm (odds ratio, 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.73, 1.76). CONCLUSION It is feasible to conduct a large comparative effectiveness trial comparing the effect of freshest available versus standard-issue blood on in-hospital mortality. The wide CI around the estimate for in-hospital mortality supports the need for a large trial. 2012 American Association of Blood Banks.
2.
A randomized controlled trial comparing standard- and low-dose strategies for transfusion of platelets (SToP) to patients with thrombocytopenia
Heddle NM, Cook RJ, Tinmouth A, Kouroukis CT, Hervig T, Klapper E, Brandwein JM, Szczepiorkowski ZM, AuBuchon JP, Barty RL, et al
Blood. 2009;113((7):):1564-73.
Abstract
A noninferiority study was performed comparing low-dose and standard-dose prophylactic platelet transfusions. A double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) was performed in 6 sites in 3 countries. Thrombocytopenic adults requiring prophylactic platelet transfusion were randomly allocated to standard-dose (300-600 x 10(9) platelets/product) or low-dose (150- < 300 x 10(9) platelets/product) platelets. The primary outcome (World Health Organization [WHO] bleeding > or = grade 2) was assessed daily through clinical examination, patient interview, and chart review. A WHO grade was assigned through adjudication. The Data Safety Monitoring Board stopped the study because the difference in the grade 4 bleeding reached the prespecified threshold of 5%. At this time, 129 patients had been randomized and 119 patients were included in the analysis (58 low dose; 61 standard dose). Three patients in the low-dose arm (5. 2%) had grade 4 bleeds compared with none in the standard-dose arm. WHO bleeding grade 2 or higher was 49. 2% (30/61) in the standard-dose arm and 51. 7% (30/58) in the low-dose group (relative risk [RR], 1. 052; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0. 737-1. 502). A higher rate of grade 4 bleeding in patients receiving low-dose prophylactic platelet transfusions resulted in this RCT being stopped. Whether this finding was due to chance or represents a real difference requires further investigation. These clinical studies are registered on (http://www. clinicaltrials. gov) as NCT00420914.
3.
Assessing the effectiveness of whole blood-derived platelets stored as a pool: a randomized block noninferiority trial
Heddle NM, Cook RJ, Blajchman MA, Barty RL, Sigouin CS, Boye DM, Nelson EJ, Kelton JG
Transfusion. 2005;45((6):):896-903.
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prestorage pooling of whole blood-derived platelets (PLTs) would simplify bacterial detection. This study evaluated the in vivo effect of the prestorage pooling of PLTs stored for up to 5 days, by assessing the corrected count increment (CCI) 18 to 24 hours after transfusion of the product. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS A randomized block noninferiority design was used. Eligible patients had chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia and were considered likely to need at least six PLT transfusions. For every block of two transfusion events, one consisted of PLTs stored individually and then pooled before transfusion, and the other was a product pooled before storage. The primary outcome was categorized as a successful (>4. 5) or unsuccessful ( RESULTS Twenty-three eligible patients received a total of 189 PLT transfusions. The median number of PLT transfusions was 7 (range, 0-27). Eighty-five complete transfusion pairs were used in the primary analysis. The proportions of transfusions leading to a CCI of greater than 4. 5 was identical for both routine and PLTs pooled before storage (45/85=52. 9%; relative risk, 1. 00; lower limit of the one-sided 95% confidence interval [CI], 0. 83). The estimate of the mean difference in CCI between pooled and routine storage (pooled-routine) was -0. 45 (95% CI, -2. 23 to 1. 33; p=0. 63). CONCLUSION These results provide evidence that storage of PLTs as a pool for up to 5 days results in posttransfusion CCIs that are not inferior to PLTs stored individually.