Commentary on the Sterility of Blood Products and the Measurement of the 24-Hour Posttransfusion Survival of Preserved RBC using 51Cr Single Label and 51Cr Double Label Procedures

This commentary is written to respond to recent publications on the storage of whole blood at room temperature for 24 hours prior to leukoreduction and storage of plasma at less than -18 C for one year and red blood cells stored at 4 C in Additive Solution 7 for 42 and 56 days and blood stored at room temperature for less than 2 hours and 6 to 8 hours prior to storage of RBC in the Additive Solution 7 for 42 and 56 days. The authors of these 3 papers provided no data on the sterility of these blood products. In addition, the 24 hour posttransfusion survival values of autologous red blood cell stored at 4 C in the additive solution AS-7 for 42 and 56 days were performed using a 51Cr single label procedure. Introduction