Studies on the ability of stored blood to transport oxygen in vivo.

Abstract

Blood stored in acid-citrate-dextrose (ACD) shows a progressive increase in oxygen affinity primarily as the result of a decrease in red cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (DPG)1. Restoration of DPG levels (and presumably normal blood oxygen affinity) appears to occur promptly after transfusion of ACD-stored, DPG- depleted blood. Delayed restoration of DPG and oxygen affinity may impair oxygen delivery. Beutler and Wood reported that DPG values returned to nearly 50 percent of normal within 4 hours.2 Others have indicated that at least 25 percent of the final DPG level was achieved within 8 hours after completion of transfusion.3 Whether the rate of DPG restoration is significantly variable from patient to patient is uncertain because only a few patients have been reported.