Therapeutic Effectiveness of Homologous Erythrocyte Transfusions Following Frozen Storage at ‐80 C for up to Seven Years

Cohn‐processed red blood cells that had been stored for as long as seven years at ‐80 C., washed by the ADL procedure and then stored at 4 C for up to 48 hours, showed approximately 90 per cent 24‐hour recovery in vivo by an automated differential agglutination (ADA) technic, recovery in vitro of approximately 90 per cent, and an index of therapeutic effectiveness of approximately 80 per cent. Washing Huggins‐preserved red blood cells with EDTA by the Huggins process produced a significant deterioration (decreased 24‐hour posttransfusion survival and decreased recovery in vitro) following storage at ‐80 C for as long as three years. In two of seven patients studied the Huggins‐processed red blood cells that had been stored at ‐80 C for 1.8 years and longer and washed by the Huggins procedure showed intravascular destruction of the compatible nonviable red blood cells. Huggins‐preserved red blood cells with EDTA that had been stored at ‐80 C up to 1.6 years showed, following washing with an electrolyte solution in the ADL bowl, a somewhat better 24‐hour ADA survival, better recovery of the preserved red blood cells, lower supernatant hemoglobin concentrations, and higher intracellular potassium levels on the day of washing and resuspension. These findings suggest that Hugginspreserved red blood cells following storage at ‐80 C for one and one half years or more should not be washed by the Huggins dilution/agglomeration procedure.