Figure 6. Transfusion of red cells after longer duration of storage is associated with decreased red cell recovery, decreased change in hematocrit, and increased iron stores.

(A) The 51-chromium 20-hour posttransfusion red blood cell recovery is shown. The dotted red line denotes the FDA criterion for acceptability (i.e., at outdate, on average >75% of transfused red blood cells should still be circulating after 24 hours). n = 51 total. (B and C) The changes in hematocrit and serum ferritin, respectively, for each subject from pretransfusion to 20 hours after transfusion are shown. n = 52 total. Results of linear regression are shown with the 95% CI in dashed black lines.