Acute lung injury as a consequence of blood transfusion

Acute lung injury (ALI) has been recognized as a consequence of blood transfusion (BT) since 1978; the Food and Drug Administration, has classified it as the third BT mortality issue, in 2004, and in first place related with ALI. It can be mainly detected as: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), transfusion associated circulatory overload (TACO) and transfusion related acute lung injury (TRALI). The clinical onset is: severe dyspnea, bilateral lung infiltration and low oxygen saturation. In USA, ARDS has an incidence of three to 22.4 cases/100 000 inhabitants, with 58.3 % mortality. TACO and TRALI are less frequent; they have been reported according to the number of transfusions: one in 1275 to 6000 for TRALI and one in 356 transfusions for TACO. Mortality is reported from two to 20 % in TRALI and 20 % in TACO. Antileukocyte antibodies in blood donors plasma, caused TRALI in 89 % of cases; also it has been found antigen specificity against leukocyte blood receptor in 59 %. The UCI patients who received a BT have ALI as a complication in 40 % of cases. The capillary pulmonary endothelia is the target of leukocyte antibodies and also plasma biologic modifiers of the stored plasma, most probable like a Sanarelli-Shwar-tzman phenomenon.