Emergency Medicine: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Transfusion-Related Acute Lung Injury

Konstantinos Tsalis and Konstantinos Blouhos

Nowadays, transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is considered the leading cause of transfusionassociated mortality. TRALI is defined as new acute lung injury (ALI) during or within 6 hours after transfusion in patients with no other ALI risk factors. Immune-mediated TRALI accounts for over 80% of reported cases and is mediated by donor antibodies to human leukocyte and neutrophil antigens. Immune-mediated TRALI is mainly associated with transfusion of blood products containing large amounts of plasma from high-risk donors. Evidencebased transfusion guidelines and reduction of rich in plasma blood products transfusion from high-risk donors will likely decrease the risk of transfusion-associated morbidity and mortality.