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TRANSFUSION AND
TRANSPLANTATION
6.1 Introduction
Blood transfusion is the transfer of blood or blood products into the blood-
stream of a patient who has lost blood due to injury, disease or an operation.
The amount and type of blood or component transfused depends on the
needs of the patient. Transfusions of blood and blood products are routine
and are generally safe therapeutic procedures that are rarely associated with
adverse reactions. However, it is only in the last hundred or so years that
the foundations of these procedures have been established. Similarly, the
transplantation of organs and solid tissues from one individual to another to
OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter you should be able to:
N outline the role of the biomedical scientist in the transfusion of blood and
blood products;
N describe how blood group systems are named;
N describe the characteristics of the ABO and Rh blood group systems;
N outline the ways in which blood groups are determined;
N discuss some of the adverse effects of transfusion;
N outline how tissue typing is carried out in the laboratory;
N outline the role of the immune system in the rejection of transplants;
N discuss the significance of MHC antigens in determining the rejection of a
transplant;
N outline the uses of some of the drugs used in immunosuppression;
N describe situations that give rise to graft versus host reactions;
N explain the uses of bone marrow and stem cell transplants.
