Only Severely Anemic Patients Should Get Transfusions, Researchers Say

With only a few exceptions, transfusions should not be given to critically ill patients--especially relatively young ones--until they are severely anemic, Canadian researchers report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine. For reasons that are not yet clear, giving blood to patients who are only mildly anemic makes them more likely to die, the researchers found. The exceptions are patients who are bleeding or suffering from heart attacks, cardiovascular disease or emphysema.

In a study of more than 800 patients in Canadian hospitals, the researchers found that among patients under age 55, 13% of those given blood when they were only slightly anemic died within 30 days, compared to only 5.7% of those who were not given blood until they were severely anemic.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II