Potassium content of irradiated packed red blood cells in different storage media: Is there a need for additive solution-dependent recommendations for infant transfusion?

Abstract Prevention of transfusion-associated graft versus host disease (TA-GVHD) by gamma irradiation is known to induce increased K+ in supernatant of packed red blood cells (PRBCs) stored in CPDA-1 and SAGM conservative solutions. However, no data exist for PRBCs in AS-3 medium which is considered safe for neonatal transfusion. We evaluated haemolysis and K+ release from irradiated AS-3 PRBCs and compared our results with reported data for SAGM and CPDA-1 PRBCs. Our results indicate that irradiated PRBCs stored in AS-3 after more than 7 days post-irradiation should not be used in massive and/or rapidly infused transfusions in neonates and infants.