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Adverse events occur in up to 1 in 100 transfusions of blood cells and are fatal in about 1 in 200,000 to 420,000 units. A recent review describes the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the various types of transfusion reactions. Most common are febrile, nonhemolytic episodes, occurring in about 1%, and rarest are transfusion-associated graft versus host disease (GvHD), occurring in near 0%.
The salient features of each type of reaction are described below:
Febrile nonhemolytic reactions are caused by proinflammatory cytokines or donor antigen-recipient antibody encounters and are associated with an increase in temperature of ≥1oC, transient hypertension, chills, and rigors but no evidence of infection or hemolysis. The use of pretransfu…