DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 29 A U.S. study has determined giving surgical patients transfusions of plasma from females is safe despite antibody fears.
U.S. physicians limit the use of female plasma, while British doctors stopped using plasma from females in 2004.
Drs. Ian Welsby of Duke University and Marla Brumit of the American Red Cross examined data from 8,300 cardiac surgery patients, and concluded patients receiving plasma from females do not face any increased risk of death, respiratory complications, or delayed recovery, as has been feared.
Plasma, the liquid portion of blood, contains antibodies from the immune cells of its donor and each time a woman becomes pregnant, she develops unique antibodies. Physicians had believed recipients of transfused plasma from women might react negatively to such antibodies, resulting in illness or death.
Transfused plasma from female donors was also believed to cause a rare lung condition that's the leading cause of transfusion-related deaths in the United States.
Welsby and Brumit also discovered female plasma might actually reduce complications after heart surgery. They are planning prospective studies to better understand that phenomenon.
The researchers presented their findings last week in Anaheim, Calif., during the annual meeting of the American Association of Blood Bankers.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
