ABSTRACT
Currently, more than 50 years after its apparent early recognition in case reports, and more than 20 years after its name was coined to denote a distinct entity of pulmonary transfusion reactions, transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) has emerged as a serious cause of transfusion-associated morbidity and the subject of an exponentially growing scientific literature. However, review articles, clinical case reports, and case series continue to dominate the published literature on the topic and experimental studies aimed at modeling and elucidating TRALI mechanisms are less frequent. This article reviews the current status of the known experimental models of TRALI, with particular emphasis on efforts to establish in vivo animal models of this important pulmonary transfusion reaction.
Subject(s)
Acute Lung Injury , Blood Transfusion , Disease Models, Animal , Animals , HumansABSTRACT
With the success of reducing the risk of transfusion-transmitted infectious diseases, noninfectious serious hazards of transfusion have come to the forefront with respect to transfusion safety. Transfusion-related acute lung injury has emerged as a dominant noninfectious serious hazard of transfusion. Improved understanding of its pathophysiology is needed to improve clinical strategies to deal with the risk. Such understanding, in turn, will depend on the continued progress in development of good model systems, in vitro and in vivo, for experimental studies. As the pathologic mechanisms are elucidated, a universal definition and strategies for the prevention and/or mitigation may become more tangible. This article reviews the clinical manifestations, evolving definition, incidence, pathophysiology, animal modeling, and donor screening and deferral algorithms as they relate to transfusion-related acute lung injury.
