Does a febrile reaction to platelets predispose recipients to red blood cell alloimmunization?
GROUND: A variable effect of inflammation on alloimmunization to transfused red blood cells (RBCs) in mice has been recently reported. We investigated whether RBC alloimmunization in humans was affected by transfusion of blood products in temporal proximity to experiencing a febrile transfusion reaction (FTR) to platelets (PLTs), an event predominantly mediated by inflammatory cytokines. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Blood bank databases were used to identify patients who experienced an FTR or possible FTR to PLTs from August 2000 to March 2008 (FTR group). The control group of patients received a PLT transfusion on randomly selected dates without experiencing an FTR. The “event” was defined as the PLT transfusion that caused the FTR in the FTR group or the index PLT transfusion in the control group. The number of transfused blood products and their proximity to the event were recorded along with other recipient data. The primary endpoint was the rate of RBC alloimmunization between the tw
