Adverse effects of transfusions.

The risks of morbidity and mortality associated with transfusion are so great that no transfusion should be given until it is decided that it is absolutely necessary and then only with the utmost care. The unfavorable effects of transfusion reviewed are: hemolytic reaction; bacterial contamination; febrile reaction due to leukoagglutinins; urticaria; anaphylaxis; problems associated with the transfusion of excess potassium, ammonia, and acid; transmission of hepatitis, cytomegalic inclusion disease, toxoplasmosis, and malaria; pulmonary insufficiency; air embolism; and circulatory overload.     

Hepatitis in clinical practice. 1. Hepatitis A and B

As is evident from the foregoing discussion, hepatitis A and hepatitis B are not static, passé disease. Knowledge concerning these illnesses continues to expand at a fantastic rate--all of it of extreme practical clinical significance. Most interesting is the elucidation of the etiology of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the increase this knowledge is hoped to produce on the utilization of hepatitis B vaccine. Also extremely important is the development of recombinant DNA vaccine, which will permit total circumvention of the question of AIDS and safety of the hepatitis B vaccine.     

ABO血型非同型血小板输注

血小板输注作为包括血液病在内的多种内、外科疾病的重要支持疗法,其安全性与有效性一直受到广泛关注.ABO血型非同型血小板输注在紧急情况下难以避免,关于其利弊的争论已持续半个多世纪,且至今尚无关于ABO血型非同型血小板输注的统一意见.笔者拟就ABO血型非同型血小板输注存在的风险与降低风险的可行性措施等进行综述.     

Blood transfusions. 2: Signs and symptoms of acute reactions

This two-part unit focuses on monitoring patients who have blood transfusions. The first part emphasised the importance of visual observations and monitoring patients' vital signs to ensure rapid action should there be any adverse effects. This second part describes the physiology behind the signs and symptoms of a blood transfusion reaction.     

Blood transfusions in athletes. Old dogmas, new tricks.

Blood doping consists of any illicit means used to increase and optimize oxygen delivery to the muscles and includes blood transfusions, administration of erythropoiesis-stimulating substances, blood substitutes, natural or artificial altitude facilities, and innovative gene therapies. The use of blood transfusion, an extremely straightforward, practical and effective means of increasing an athlete's red blood-cell supply in advance of competition, became rather popular in the 1970s, but it has suddenly declined following the widespread use of recombinant human erythropoietin among elite endurance athletes. Most recently, following implementation of reliable tests to screen for erythropoiesis-stimulating substances, blood transfusions have made a strong resurgence, as attested by several positive doping tests. Doping by blood transfusion can be classified as homologous, where the blood is infused into someone other than the donor, and autologous, where the blood donor and transfusion recipient are the same. The former case produces more clinically relevant side effects, but is easily detectable using current antidoping protocols based on erythrocyte phenotyping by flow cytometry and, eventually, erythrocyte genotyping by DNA testing. Since the donor and recipient blood are identical in autologous blood doping, this is less risky, though much more challenging to detect. Indirect strategies, relying on significant deviations from individual hematological profiles following autologous blood donation and reinfusion, are currently being investigated. For the time being, the storage of athletes' blood samples to allow testing and sanctioning of guilty athletes once a definitive test has been introduced may represent a reliable deterrent policy.     

Hepatitis C virus and hepatocarcinogenesis.

Although human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common types of tumors in the world, the molecular mechanisms underlying hepatitis-C-related human hepatocarcinogenesis are still not clear. HCC is accompanied by virus infections in most cases, and it is suggested that hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus (HCV) significantly influence the oncogenic process. The persistence of inflammation following HCV infection is reportedly related to carcinogenesis, and the mechanism of chronic inflammation has been approached by taking viral, immunologic, cytokine and apoptotic responses into consideration. With the progress made in molecular biology, the functional abnormality of oncogenes/tumor suppressor genes has been identified and, apart from the p53 gene, involvement of the IGF-II gene has also been described recently. Furthermore, it has been suggested that uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells might be based on abnormal regulation of intracellular signal transduction pathways. Here we review the cutting edge of molecular hepatitis C virology in terms of virus-cell interactions, which may contribute to the development of human HCCs. We also discuss the recent progress made in the molecular and cell biology of human hepatocarcinogenesis.