Highlights in Transfusion Medicine History

Here is a continuation of important milestones in transfusion medicine:

• 1950
  Audrey Smith reports the use of glycerol cyroprotectant for freezing red blood cells.
  
  
• 1950
  In one of the single most influential technical developments in blood banking, Carol Walter and W.P. Murphy, Jr., introduce the plastic bag for blood collection. Replacing breakable glass bottles with durable plastic bags allows for the evolution of a collection system capable of safe and easy preparation of multiple blood components from a single unit of whole blood. Development of the refrigerated centrifuge in 1953 further expedites blood component therapy.
  
  
• Mid-1950s
  In response to the heightened demand created by open heart surgery and advances in trauma care patients, blood use enters its most explosive growth period.
  
  
• 1951
  The American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) Clearinghouse is established, providing a centralized system for exchanging blood among blood banks. Today, the Clearinghouse is called the National Blood Exchange.
  
  
• 1957
  The AABB forms its committee on Inspection and Accreditation to monitor the implementation of standards for blood banking.
  
  
• 1958
  The AABB publishes its first edition of Standards for a Blood Transfusion Service (now titled Standards for Blood Banks and Transfusion Services).
  
  
• 1959
  Max Perutz of Cambridge University deciphers the molecular structure of hemoglobin, the molecule that transports oxygen and gives red blood cells their color.
  
  
• 1960
  The AABB begins publication of Transfusion, the first American journal wholly devoted to the science of blood banking and transfusion technology. In the same year, A. Solomon and J.L. Fahey report the first therapeutic plasmapheresis procedure.
  
  
• 1961
  The role of platelet concentrates in reducing mortality from hemorrhage in cancer patients is recognized.
  
  
• 1962
  The first antihemophilic factor (AHF) concentrate to treat coagulation disorders in hemophilia patients is developed through fractionation.
  
  In the U.S., there were 4,400 hospital blood banks, 123 non-hospital blood banks and 55 American Red Cross blood centers, collecting a total of five to six million units of blood per year.
  
  
• 1964
  Plasmapheresis is introduced as a means of collecting plasma for fractionation.
  
  
• 1965
  Judith G. Pool and Angela E. Shannon report a method for producing Cyroprecipitated AHF for treatment of hemophilia.
  
  
• 1967
  Rh immune globulin is commercially introduced to prevent Rh disease in the newborns of RH-negative women
  
  
• 1969
  S. Murphy and F. Gardner demonstrate the feasibility of storing platelets at room temperature, revolutionizing platelet transfusion therapy.
  
  
• 1970s
  Blood banks move toward an all-volunterr blood donor system.
  
  
• 1971
  Hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) testing of donated blood begins.
  
  
• 1972
  Apheresis is used to extract one cellular component, returning the rest of the blood to the donor.
  
  
• 1979
  A new anticoagulant preservative, CPDA-1, extends the self life of whole blood and red blood cells to 35 days, increasing the blood supply and facilitating resource sharing among blood banks.

Look to upcoming issues of Bloodlines for highlights in transfusion medicine from 1980 to the present.

Information taken from the website of American Association of Blood Banks.