The relative contribution of transfusions of adult blood to the development of retrolental fibroplasia (RLF) in very low-birth-weight infants was examined. Five years of experience with the expanded use of replacement and exchange transfusions in 90 infants with birth weight ≤1,250 gm was reviewed. Twenty percent of the infants developed cicatricial RLF. Exchange transfusion was not related to development of cicatricial RLF. The incidence of RLF in infants receiving ≥130 ml of packed red blood cells per kilogram of birth weight as replacement blood transfusion (RBT) was significantly higher (42.9%) than that in infants receiving 61 to 131 ml of packed red blood cells per kilogram (15.4%) and infants receiving ≤60 ml of packed red blood cells per kilogram (0%), P < .001. The need for RBT, however, was strongly correlated (r = .85, P < .001) with increasing duration of O2 therapy. When O2 therapy was controlled for, the association between RBT and RLF did not achieve statistical significance (P = .07). The association between RBT and RLF remained significant when adjusted for duration of therapy in fractional inspired oxygen (FIO2) >0.4. Further detailed studies of large numbers of susceptible infants are warranted to assess the magnitude of the contribution of transfusions of adult blood to development of RLF.
Soluble factors from packed red blood cells augmented LPS Induced monocyte production of IL-1Β and caspase-1