Studies on Stored Whole Blood

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Abstract
Blood stored at 10 C displayed no more evidence of cell destruction in vitro than did blood stored at 4 C. Agitation for one hour at weekly intervals of storage was also not obviously damaging, nor was warming blood to 22 C for up to 16 hours. Exposure to 22 C for 24 hours led to erythrocyte deterioration that was most evident when units were more than 21 days old, and agitation plus this warming increased these signs of damage. Units stored as packed cells were moderately affected by exposure to 22 C for 24 hours, and agitation reinforced this effect. Posttransfusion survival of blood warmed to 22 C for 24 hours tended to be lower than nonwarmed controls; the warmed group average was below 70 per cent survival at 28 days of storage.From these studies, the temperature variation commonly encountered in clinical blood banking (4 C to 10 C and short exposure to 22 C prior to transfusion) would not appear to contribute significantly to erythrocyte damage unless the units were in the oldest stages of storage or had been exposed to warm temperatures for longer than 24 hours. Mechanical stress had minimal adverse effect, but this became more evident when blood was stored as packed cells or when whole blood had been stored for 21 days.