| Popis: |
Allogenic blood transfusion and human blood donation is a vital and necessary component of medicine and resuscitative efforts. However, it is not without risk and is subject to supply and availability. Blood transfusion performs many functions, such as volume expansion, but we have developed substitutes for a number of these functions. Unfortunately, the most important task of red blood cells is the carrying and delivery of oxygen to tissues and for this we do not have an adequate substitute. An artificial oxygen carrier that could be derived in the lab and made at will would solve many of the complications associated with transfusion medicine. Risk of infection from HIV and hepatitis C would be non-existent. Supply shortages and storage issues potentially would be a thing of the past. Transfusion reactions from ABO incompatibility would no longer pose a danger to our patients. A number of possibilities have been investigated in the past with mixed results, but there is hope and research efforts are ongoing. Despite this, currently there is no blood substitute clinically available in the U.S approved for regular use. However, some are available in other countries and attainable under certain conditions. |
