Abstract
Smoking by donors largely accounts for the greater than 5% carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) saturation found in 17% of blood units in a volunteer blood program. Low levels of COHb in donor blood are potentially dangerous to susceptible recipients, particularly patients with cardiorespiratory diseases, those in whom dilution of blood volume does not occur, and patients with coronary artery disease who are undergoing bypass surgery. Recommendations that blood donors not smoke for two hours prior to phlebotomy must be balanced against potential loss of smoking donors. Screening for COHb in blood to be transfused to susceptible recipients, labeling of smokers' blood, or both, should be considered. ( JAMA 230:996-997, 1974)
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