The complexity of healthcare organizations involves interdisciplinary professional practice, whose common goal is to provide quality products and services that satisfy the customer's and society's expectations. One of the services that comprise this structure is transfusion medicine, which is an essential specialty in the treatment of hematologic malignancies and numerous other clinical and sur...

I n the early 1990s, bacterial contamination of blood components was recognized as the most common cause of transfusion-transmitted infection, accounting for between 14 and 24% of transfusion associated fatalities reported to the US Food and Drug Administration and various hemovigilance systems. Because platelets (PLTs) are stored at room temperature, they provide a hospitable environment for t...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the profile of blood transfusion reactions in children and to identify the involved factors. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study in a tertiary pediatric teaching hospital from the public healthcare system, involving all children admitted from January to July of 2011 (5,437), of which 1,226 received blood transfusions, constituting the sample. A documental study was p...

The blood donation and transfusion chain Although much effort has been expended to find suitable replacements for blood components, the best source continues to be blood collected from healthy, human donors. The process of supplying sufficient blood components and derivatives for patient needs is complex and highly regulated. At the same time, it must be dynamic in adapting to the local and reg...