Blood transfusions and pulmonary complications after hematopoietic cell transplantation

Transfusion of blood products is an essential component of the hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) process. Blood transfusion carries several risks including, but not limited to, lung injury. The effect of transfusions on lung complications after HCT has not been previously investigated. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied 215 adult allogeneic HCT recipients at the University of Minnesota and examined the association between transfusion of blood components and development of lung complications after HCT. Patients without lung complications were used as the control group. RESULTS: A total of 113 (58%) of the patients developed lung injury events before Day 180 after HCT. Six-month survival was significantly lower in the lung event group (52%) versus the controls (78%; p = 0.01). Patients who eventually developed lung events received more transfusion episodes per week in the first month after HCT (median, 4.3 vs. 2.7 for controls), platelet units per week (3.5 vs. 2.0), and RBC units per week (1.8 vs. 1.4; p