A Comparative Study of the Effect of Transfusion of Fresh and Preserved Whole Blood on Bleeding in Patients with Acute Leukemia

GROSS bleeding is a frequent and major complication in patients with acute leukemia. The etiology of this bleeding is closely related to thrombocytopenia,1 although other coagulation abnormalities have been identified in a few patients.2 With the development of plastic and other nonwettable surfaces, the transfusion of viable platelets that circulate for five to seven days was demonstrated.3 , 4 These studies also showed that clinical hemorrhage could be interrupted if circulating platelet levels were sufficiently increased by platelet transfusion. Because of the time-consuming manipulations necessary for preparing platelet concentrates and because of the difficulty in obtaining large numbers of immediately available donors, . . .