Transfusion therapy presents some risks to patients, he said, including an overload of iron in the body from dead blood cells that can damage organs; a small risk of viral infections, like hepatitis or HIV, from donated blood; and developing antibodies to foreign proteins in blood, making it hard to find compatible supplies.
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Dr . Robert J . Adams of the Medical College of Georgia, in Atlanta, the lead center in the latest trial, said that while the first study showed that transfusion therapy could prevent strokes and subsequent brain damage, it did not show whether transfusions could be safely stopped at some point, reducing risks of the therapy.
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The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, the sponsor of the trial, issued a clinical alert on Thursday to doctors treating children with sickle cell disease, urging them to begin screening patients for those who might be at high risk of stroke and to consider the transfusion therapy as a preventive measure.
